


Strike to the Heart

by Writer_who_cant_write



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Baseball, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Bisexual Disaster Luz Noceda, F/F, Fluff and Angst, No Smut, Slow Burn, Useless Lesbian Amity Blight
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:35:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 37,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27146741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writer_who_cant_write/pseuds/Writer_who_cant_write
Summary: The best pitcher in the division, best batting average as well, add rich family and popularity to the mix, it seems that Amity Blight has it all. Until a certain Latina catcher comes along and threatens the very perch she sits on. will she be able to keep her spot as MVP or will she be pushed aside for the new and upcoming star that is Luz Noceda? and what is this weird feeling in her stomach every time she sees her?Luz Noceda just wants to fit in with her new team, she did enroll at Hexside just for her opportunity to play on the best team in Bonesborough, but when she steps on the toes of their MVP she starts to wonder if this was a good fit. Determined to make amends, Luz now has to struggle between school, sports, and this strange feeling she feels every time she sees the one and only Amity Blight.Inspired by that baseball Fanart by Penkwinn1 on Twitter and Dana Terrace's art on Twitter, made me want to read a baseball Au only to find two in existence, I decided to change that.
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Boscha/Willow Park, Eda Clawthorne/Camilia Noceda, Emira Blight/Viney
Comments: 41
Kudos: 154





	1. The Rookie

**Author's Note:**

> hello all! I decided to write a Fanfiction! I hope everyone enjoys this! My Spanish is a little rough, so I will try my best! I will also have my friend to double-check it. So if you read the description you know that I was really inspired by all the baseball fan art in the community and was disappointed not to see a lot of fanfic about it so I decided to write some. It will be a multi-chapter fic so get ready for angst and the slowest of burns! Because I am evil like that. Also, I will NOT be doing smut, so don't even ask, they are underage, the most you might get is a kiss with tongue, but even that I don't think will happen. Please feel free to comment, I am always open to constructive criticism! Enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz's first day is a bit of a mess, it has its ups and downs as she tries to control her anxiety. Amity has two's encounters with the new girl, one good and one... not so good, but both are equally confusing.

"Calm down Noceda, You got this! First day at a new school. Play it cool. This can't be too hard... I hope."

Luz gulped as she gazed at the large building in front of her. Teenagers already rushing in, eager to see their friends they missed over the summer. The building itself was three stories high, and Luz could already picture herself getting lost in the many hallways of Hexside Preparatory academy. Luz pulled at her uniform's tie, as a sudden wave of heat came over her. "Maybe I can find people who hate this uniform as much as I do." She muttered.

That was the one downside to her new school, the uniforms. They consisted of a black sweater vest with the school crest on the upper right corner, a white short sleeve button down, that could be traded for a long sleeve in the colder months, black dress pants and shoes, and a blue, white, and yellow tie around the neck. It wasn't uncomfortable necessarily, but Luz would happily trade the sweater vest for her cat hoodie on any given day. A hand on her shoulder brought her out of her thoughts. She looked to her right to see who it was.

"Tía lily!"

Lilith smiled at Luz' greeting " Hello Luz. Are you ready for today?" Lilith watched as Luz's expression went from cheerful to sullen.

" If I'm being honest? I'm nervous. I'm not the best at making friends, what if everyone picks on me like my last school? What if...they think I'm weird." Lilith's heart ached for her niece. Lilith's sister, Edalyn, had told her about Luz's experience with her last high school, and Lilith was determined to make sure that wouldn't happen again, not while she was the head coach here at least.

"Luz you have nothing to worry about, you are an amazing, bright-minded, charismatic child, anyone would be lucky to have you as a friend, and I'm sure you'll make friends on the team." Luz gave her a sad smile. "thanks Tía." Luz took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing." And with that, she bounded up the steps to Hexside just as the warning bell rang.

***

So far her first day wasn't as bad as she feared. She hadn't gotten lost and almost no one seemed to give her a second glance. _N_ _o attention is better than bad attention in my book._ she thought. Unfortunately, her luck had run out as it was the third period now and she had no idea where her advanced chemistry class was. Luz glanced down at her schedule as she continued to walk the halls. "Room 501. Como diablos hay un habitación 501?!" Luz looked up and spotted two kids from one of her earlier classes talking to one another. A girl and a boy. The girl seemed about Luz's age, she wore round glasses, and her dark hair, cut in a bob, was a stark contrast to her pale skin. The boy looked a few years younger, maybe a freshman, and his skin was milk chocolate in color, his hair in a box cut and shaved on the sides.

 _Well, I've lasted this long, Time to make some friends... I hope._ Luz quickly jogged up to the pair. "Hey, hi. Uh.. sorry to bother you two, but do either of you know where room 501 is? I am completely lost, and can either of you explain to me how exactly there is a room 501, this building is only three stories, and I don't understand how you can come up with so many-" Luz' rambling was cut off by a stifled laugh from the girl. "Oh god. I started rambling, didn't I? I'm sorry! I'm just nervous and it's my first day and I think we have the first period together, so I thought maybe I could talk to you and- Hi, I'm Luz." She stuck out a hand for her to shake.

Laughing again, the girl took luz' hand in hers. " Willow. And this is Gus."

Gus took her hand next "nice to meet you, Luz!"

Luz let out a sigh of relief. _Maybe this won't end in total disaster._

"So you're looking for room 501?" Willow asked, shaking Luz from her inner thoughts.

" Yeah, I have advanced chemistry."

" Well lucky for you I have AP biology right next door so I'll take you if you want ." Willow gave her a warm smile.

"Really?! That would be great!"

Willow turned to Gus, "I'll see you at lunch?"

"As always. Will I see you there too Luz?" Luz stood in shock. She had barely known these two for no more than two minutes, maybe an Hour if she included the first period, and they wanted her to join them for lunch!? "Uh. Yeah, absolutely! As long as I'm not intruding?"She turned to Willow, a questioning look on her face.

Willow nodded her head "Of course you can join us!"

Luz was ecstatic. Willow and Luz said their goodbyes to Gus and headed off towards the back of the school. "So the reason why you couldn't find room 501, is that it's a separate, smaller building behind the school, near the Greenhouse. The only other classroom in that building is room 500, Biology, that's me."

"Wait, why the extra building?"

They were crossing the courtyard behind the school, Luz could see the baseball and multitrack field from where they were, but more importantly, she could see the building in question. It was a smaller building, only one story high, its exterior matching the gothic architecture of the school. Attached to the building was a long, glass greenhouse, filled with a variety of plants.

"That's a bit more complicated." Willow rubbed the back of her neck. " The chemistry class used to be on the top floor of the main building until a few years back. There was an incident involving a student, apparently, they blew up the lab. Now principal bump keeps the chemistry lab behind the school, to avoid more property damage." Luz chuckled at the story. Part of her wondered what the experiment could have been to cause such a big explosion. Part of her didn't want to find out.

"Well. this is you." Willow turned to Luz and smiled, "And with two minutes to spare!" Luz returned the smile. " Thanks again! You're a lifesaver." The two parted ways and Luz tugged the door open to her class.

-

Amity looked up from her book to see who entered the class. _Great. A_ _new girl._ Amity knew everyone in the school, her status made sure of that, seeing someone new wasn't interesting. More... exhausting, to her, it was another face and another name to learn, another person to put on the rich girl charade for. There was something different about this girl though. She had messy hair like she just rolled out of bed, sun-kissed skin, and a smile that made something stir in Amity's stomach. She heard the teacher call the girl's name.

"Ah, Ms. Noceda I presume?" She shook his hand.

"Yes sir, Luz Noceda at your service."

He gave her a hearty chuckle and a pat on the back."Welcome to Advanced Chemistry! Let's see if we can't find you a partner."

The feeling grew and her cheeks flush as she felt the sudden urge to volunteer as her partner. A ridiculous thought, since she was partners with Boscha. _What is wrong with me? Did I eat something weird?_ She thought back to her breakfast, nothing immediately stuck out to her as unusual. Amity shook her head and feigned reading her book, still eavesdropping the conversation at hand.

" Is Viney here today?"

 _Right,_ Amity thought, _Viney_. " She should be Professor, she drove with us this morning," Amity responded lazily, trying to seem nonchalant as possible.

Of course, Viney would be the obvious choice, she had to work with professor Malcolm last year, she would be thrilled to have a partner this year. So why did Amity feel disappointed that she wasn't Luz's partner? She looked over at Viney's, and now Luz's, table. The two in deep conversation, Viney laughing at something Luz said. _Maybe I'll get to know her after all._ _If Viney_ _likes her, then Emira will be getting to know her real soon._ Amity snickered, she loved her sister, but sometimes, she could be a bit overprotective of her girlfriend.

"What are you laughing at?" Amity looked up to see, her lab partner and friend, Boscha, setting her things down and taking her seat next to her. Amity pointed back to the pair. Boscha looked at where she was pointing.

"Oh-" Bocsha grew a devilish smirk, " A new victim, talking to Viney, no less. This should be fun."

That was something Amity and Boscha never saw eye to eye on. Boscha and Amity both came from rich families, while Amity tended to use that rank silently, Boscha liked to flaunt it. Boscha always had the latest and coolest thing, she cut ahead of people in lunch lines, and she picked on anyone new or weak by her standards. Amity didn't really like bullying people, she did it a hand full of times, and each time she felt awful about it. Boscha took pride in it, she heavily believed in the social status of high school and made sure everyone stayed in their place.

" Must you bully everyone you see, Boscha?" Boscha glared at Amity, the smirk still present on her face.

" It's my job to make sure she knows her place." As Boscha began to rise from her seat Amity grabbed her wrist.

" Have you gone crazy? You do realize Professor Malcolm is right there, right? Just-" she let go of her wrist, "Give her a day, okay? See if she can prove herself worthy or, whatever." _Why am I protecting this girl? I don't even know her!_ Boscha gave Amity a weird look,

"Since when do you care about who I pick on?"

Amity stuttered, "I don't I just-" _Think Blight! think!_ "Viney!" She blurted out.

 _"_ Viney?" Boscha questioned, "what about Viney?" 

_Right, what about Viney?_ "w-well she's lab partners with the new girl and they seem to be hitting it off."

"so?"

 _so?_ "So i-if her and Viney hit it off, then She'll introduce her to Emira, and if Emira likes her and she finds out that you picked on her. Then you have to answer to Emira."

Boscha's face paled slightly. Regaining some composure, she tried to answer as calmly as possible. "Alright." she gulped, "one day." She retook her seat next to Amity, just as the bell rang, signaling class to start. Amity let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. _I hope this girl is worth it._

***

"Dios mío, este lugar es enorme, ¿qué bastardo rico pagó por esto?".

Willow walked with Luz to lunch after class and they were now in the largest cafeteria Luz has ever seen in her life.

"This looks like a scene out of Highschool Musical, but fancier."

Willow sighed in response. "That's Hexside for you, overly fancy for no reason."

Luz did a full 360 just staring at the vaulted ceilings and intricate details in the pillars scattered around the large room. "Yeah, but, wow! It's kinda worth it!" Luz heard a familiar voice call out to her.

" You'll hurt your neck staring at that ceiling!"

Luz looked out into the crowd to find the culprit of the voice.

"Thanks, Viney!" she waved over at Viney and saw a girl with her arm wrapped around Viney's waist. The girl was older than both Viney and luz, but not by much, and while Viney had brown hair, this girl had unnatural dark green hair. This girl was giving Luz a peculiar look like, Luz is a piece of a puzzle and she's trying to figure out where she goes. Viney whispered something in her ear, and the girl's expression changed, she gave Luz a smile and a wink, before walking off with her tray in one hand and Viney in the other. Luz felt a blush rise to her cheeks as she swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Guys over here!" Gus brought Luz out of her stupor and she looked to see Gus frantically waving his arms at a table a few feet away. Willow nudged Luz's side.

"come on, before his arms fall off."

" I'll catch up with you I have to grab my lunch, first." Willow nodded and the two parted ways. Luz got in line and pulled out her meal plan card, her aunt gave her a week before school started. The card gave her a budget for the food provided by the school. At first, Luz thought the card was overkill, how expensive could lunch be, now she was thankful for it. There were all kinds of food on display, from a simple burger to Chinese food. " Santa mierda, tía wasn't kidding."

Luz grabbed a cheeseburger from a platter and a boxed-up salad from another. From a cooler, she grabbed a red Gatorade and went to check out.

"That'll be $37.50." Luz handed the lunch lady the meal card, she swiped it and handed it back to Luz. "Are you aware of how your card works?" Luz racked her brain for what her aunt had told her,

" I have a budget each month and if I go over, there will be a fine for the overcharge?"

The lunch lady gave Luz a tired smile. "That's right. You still $162.50 left for this month. Next!"

Luz grabbed her tray and began to walk away when she heard the kid behind her in line.

" Ah shit, I forgot my wallet. Sorry Allison." Luz stopped in her tracks. Her heart getting the best of her, she spun on her heel and walked back up to the register.

"Wait! I'll pay for his food." Luz dug out the card again, handing it back to Allison, apparently.

"thanks, I'll be sure to pay you back."

"oh it's really no-" Luz turned the boy and felt a weird sense of deja vu. The boy before her looked just like the girl she saw with Viney earlier, only with shorter hair, but the same shade of green. "-problem." Luz finished, slightly concerned for her mental health.

" Your new budget is now $142.35." Luz took the card and looked back at the clone in front of her.

"enjoy your meal," Luz said quickly, she then turned, and sped off toward Willow and Gus. She approached the table and sat down next to Willow, across from Gus. " I just had the strangest sense of deja vu ever."

Gus perked up, " Oh! Do tell!"

" I went to pay for a guy's lunch and he looked just like a girl I saw earlier."

Willow and Gus looked at each other and burst into laughter.

"What? What am I missing here?" Luz asked.

Willow was the first to calm down enough to tell Luz." Did he have green hair?" Willow asked.

"mole on the right cheek?" Gus added.

"yeah, seriously, what I am missing here?"

"You just had your first encounter with the blight twins," Willow responded, wiping a tear from her eye.

Luz turned bright red from embarrassment. " Well I'm a complete idiot. Goodbye world, it's been a fun fourteen years." Luz laid down on the bench, acting like she died a horrible, tragic death.

"oh, don't be so dramatic." Willow said, pulling Luz back up to a sitting position.

"yeah, it was an honest mistake." Gus chimed, "happens to the best of us."

" Anyways," Willow said, changing the subject. "What's your story, Luz?"

"my story?"

"Yeah, like why did you decide to attend Hexside? What are your hobbies? your favorite color, that kind of stuff." Luz took a sip of her Gatorade, cooling herself off from her previous mishap. "Oh. Well, I came to Hexside for the baseball team, my hobbies include making fanart and editing anime clips together, and my favorite color is purple."

Willow stopped mid-bite of her sandwich when she heard that Luz came to Hexside for baseball. "Wait. Are you our new catcher?"

"Yeah, you're on the Banshees?!"

the two girls squealed in excitement and hugged each other.

"Oh thank god, I don't have to play catcher anymore."

Luz laughed and faked anger. "And what is wrong with being catcher?" she said in a stern tone.

"Nothing! nothing. I just miss my third base."

Luz cracked a smile, "and I'm sure it misses you too Willow.".

The girls giggled again and Luz turned to Gus."What about you Gus, are you on the team too?".

Gus shook his head. " Nope." He said popping the p.

" Gus is on the cheerleading squad."

Luz squealed again." Que lindo! I bet you look so handsome in that uniform!"

Gus basked in Luz's praise." You bet your sweet bottom I do, I am also the head reporter for the school newspaper. I hope to follow my dad's footsteps. I even skipped grade like him." Gus beamed. Luz smiled at how adorable Gus was being and admired his hard-working attitude. _This year won't be as bad as I thought._ The three continued their conversation throughout lunch, slowly, but surely becoming friends.

Meanwhile

Edric walked over to the table and set down his tray of chili cheese fries, plopping into the seat next to his sister." Well, she passed my test." He grabbed the attention of the table, all of them turning away they were staring at not too long ago.

"And what is exactly is your test?" Boscha asked, annoyed at the Blight twin. Edric to a long sip of his soda, unphased by the pink-haired girl in front of him.

"My lunch test. I pretend to not have my wallet to see if the person in question will pay for it. If they do I gain a friend and get lunch. It's a win-win."

Amity scoffed, " That's not a test Ed, that's just you trying to get free food. the only person that wins is you."

Edric popped a fry into his mouth. "exactly. I win twice." Everyone rolled their eyes.

Amity and Emira both let out a groan "How are we related to you?" they said in unison.

Edric put on a hurt face. "ouch! that's cold. I expect it from Em, but you Mittens? I'm disappointed." He shook his head to emphasize his point. the mint-haired girl turned red as a tomato at the use of her childhood nickname.

"Shut it, Ed! Before you get a fastball to the face.". Edric laughed and ruffled Amity's hair.

" My, aren't we testy today?" Amity growled.

"Okay, as much as I love to see Amity pulverize you to a pup, we have bigger issues." Boscha slumped over the table.

" Correction, you have bigger issues, I actually like her." Viney chimed, leaning heavily on Emira's shoulder.

"Come on guys, we need to show her who's boss." Everyone groaned.

"What is your deal Boscha? you know we don't have to be mean to **everyone** that goes here. Give the girl a break." Emira was just about done with Boscha's need for power, just because they had money, didn't mean they had to be rude to everyone they met.

"What's with your need to be on top, anyway?"

" In case you all forgot. We are heirs to multi-million dollar companies, our parents are the main beneficiaries to this school! I'm just getting a head start on how we have to act in the future." Boscha finished with a smug look on her as she leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest.

The rest of the group grimaced, Viney gently rubbed Emira's back. "Don't remind us. You go enjoy being Miss popular, we're fine having separate lives from our parents."

Boscha shrugged. "I will. Starting tomorrow, that girl, is fresh meat."

***

The rest of the day went along smoothly for Luz. She was able to find the rest of her classes with ease and even had a few more classes with Viney and Willow. Now it was the end of the day. Luz's leg bounced in anticipation for the final bell to ring. She was both excited and nervous about practice, she was desperate to make a good impression. She already knew Willow on the team, and she later found out that Viney was on the team too. _Okay, that's two people._ Luz thought back to what her mother had told this morning before she left for school.

_"Just be you Mija. The friends worth having will accept you for who you are."_ She hoped her mother was right. When the bell rang, Luz was the first one out the door. Luz, stood outside the door to the locker room, too nervous to open the door. She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see her aunt carrying a bucket of baseballs in one hand and a bag of equipment in the other.

"Oh good, Luz you're here early. Can you help me with equipment please?". Luz nodded her head numbly and Lilith handed the bag to her. Lilith brushed past Luz and began to push open the door when she noticed Luz wasn't following her." Everything Okay, Luz?"

The girl looked like she'd seen a ghost. " No puedo hacer esto, fue un error. Debería ir a casa y fingir que esto nunca sucedió." she responded, in full panic mode.

" Luz, English please," She set down the bucket, propping the door open with it.

" I'm- it's just nerves Tía. I'll be fine, I just have to get on the field."

Lilith gave Luz a warm smile and knelt to Luz. " You know, Edalyn and I were both nervous our first time?"

Luz laughed, "Mamí told me that you lost your lunch before you got out on the field."

Lilith gasped in shock. "That little liar! She was the one who hurled! When I take you home I'm gonna talk to her-"

" I think we're getting off-topic here." Luz gave her aunt a smirk.

"Right. Sorry, the point is, we were both new and wondered if we would fit in too. And while I understand that we had each other, and you have, well, you, just know that I will look out for you and this team will too." She finished, patting Luz on the back. " Now lace up your cleats and help me set up the field, we have a long practice ahead of us."

Luz smiled, a genuine smile, and ran into the building calling over her shoulder,"yes, tía!".

Lilith mocked a stern tone. "That's Coach to you Noceda!" she heard Luz laugh from inside the locker room. Lilith let herself smile and walked off towards the field, baseballs in hand.

Luz joined her shortly after she finished placing the bases. She sported her old team uniform of orange with black trim and the word 'Manticores' on the front. Lilith gave her a disgruntled look, " Your new jersey should be here soon, until then I guess that'll do."

Luz nervously rubbed her arm. " I think I have mamí's old jersey. It's a bit big, but I can make it work-" Lilith cut her off.

"No, no. The first time you wear a 'Banshees' jersey I want it to be your own. You're here to make you own legacy, not Edalyn's. Now grab those cones over there and meet me over here." Luz did as was told and met her at the second base. " Set a cone at each position in the outfield, one at the pitching mound and one at the batter's boxes." Luz placed the cones and ran back to Lilith.

" What are the cones for?"

Lilith smirked, " You'll know soon enough, Now come, I think it's time you meet the team."

***

To say that Amity was surprised to see Luz in the locker room, standing next to coach Lilith, would be an understatement. Boscha, on the other hand, was livid, even if she didn't show it.

"Shit." Amity heard Boscha mutter under her breath.

"Can I have everyone's attention please?" A hush fell over the room, everyone looking over to their coach and the girl beside her. "Now as you all know, Jamie moved to Wisconsin and Willow has graciously taken over for her to finish the season" Everyone clapped and some whooped in congratulations. " Yes, Thank you, Ms. Park. I am happy to report that you can return to your position at third base." Another round of applause and Willow gave a sigh of relief. " Now to the business at hand. I know we usually have tryouts in the Spring, however, Ms. Noceda here was on her varsity team at her last school and I've seen what she can do, so I hope you will all help me in welcoming, Luz Noceda, our new catcher!"

There was a round of polite claps and Luz heard Willow and Viney give her a cheer. " Now Ms. Noceda if you would please take your seat at your locker." Lilith gave her a wink and Luz sat next to Willow, grabbing her glove and mask from the top shelf."Alright everyone ten minutes, until we hit the field!"

Lilith walked out and the room lit up with buzz ranging from this season to the new girl on the team. A small crowd already gathering around her. Amity felt her feet move without even thinking.

"Noceda,"

the sea of people parted and golden eyes met hazel brown. Both of theirs breaths hitched, Amity was able to recover quickly, unlike Luz.

" As a team captain, it is my job to welcome you to the team. I'm Blight. Amity Blight." She extended her hand to Luz.

Spluttering, Luz grabbed it and gave it a firm shake. The Blight inside her kicked in and she put on a smirk as she looked the catcher up and down.

"We'll be working together a lot as well, hope you can keep up with my fastball."

Something inside Luz clicked and she snapped out of her daze. " That shouldn't be a problem. I hope you all are ready for my batting average!"

Amity laughed, the one one that reminded her of her mother, cold and callous. Luz gave her a confused stare back, she turned to Willow for help, a clue to the inside joke, but she was met with a look of fear. " Oh, you're serious."

Luz snapped her head back to Amity. "Why would I be joking about that?"

Amity's competitive side got the best of her, her face dropped into a condescending look. "Okay, you might have been the best batter at loser high, but I'm the best batter in the division, and-" she moved her face until it was inches from Luz. " **No one** is going to take that from me." She leaned away and put on her fake smile again. " See you on the field." and with that she walked out of the locker room, Boscha close behind her, with a shit-eating grin on her face.

Luz gulped and followed them outside with the rest of the team.

Once outside, the team saw Lilith standing on the pitcher's mound with a baseball in hand, " How about we start the season, with a good old fashioned Homerun Derby?" Amity's smile grew devilish as she turned to Luz who was just now catching up with the rest of the team.

"Alright rookie, Let's see what you got."

***

" The rules are simple, we will take turns rotating people to bat. The rest of you, minus Amity and Luz, will stand outfield at one of the three cones to catch the ball, again rotating on who is an outfielder. Amity you will be pitching, I will take over for you when it's your turn to bat, and same for you Luz, you will be catching until it is your turn. Make sense?" The team nodded their heads in unison.

"Good. I'm excited to see how you two play together, Ms. Noceda and Ms. Blight."

Amity responded, her voice oozing with fake politeness." Me too coach Liith." she turned to Luz. " Me too."

The derby went pretty well. Everyone gets in a few good hits, Willow surprising herself with a new personal best of fourteen home runs out of thirty pitches, to which Luz congratulated her. Now it was down to Luz and Amity, the latter being up to bat. Lilith pitched her, her first ball and a loud 'thwack' could be heard as the ball sailed over everyone's head and into the forest behind the school.

Amity leered. "one." she set up for the next pitch, again the same 'thwack' was heard. "two". Amity finished with a whopping twenty-four out of thirty home runs. " Beat that. 'Luz'er." Amity walked back to the pitcher's mound and traded with Lilith.

"Alright luz, you're up." Luz went to grab her bat when Lilith grabbed her by the shoulder and whispered in her ear. " Don't let Amity get in your head, I've seen what you can do, just relax and focus on the ball." Luz nodded and walked to the dugout to grab her helmet and her bat.

She walked back with her bat, 'Owlbert', in her hand, a gift from her mamí, Eda. She rubbed her thumb against the wood grain to calm herself as she stepped into the batters' box. _Remember what she taught you Luz, just breathe. Let the world around you fall away and focus on the ball._ She stared ahead at Amity's menacing eyes and took a deep breath. "I got this."

The first pitch came and so did that same 'thwack' as before. The ball soaring past the tree line of the forest a few feet before landing somewhere. The surprise on Amity's face was evident as she set up to throw the next pitch. Luz hit that one with the same force as before, sending another ball flying over the field. Amity's anger grew.

Pitch after pitch Luz would knock them one after another out of the park, she was in her element and there was no stopping her. Luz finished with twenty-seven home-runs out of thirty pitches.

" It looks like we have a new home run derby champion!" the team rushed around Luz all screaming in excitement except for Boscha and Amity. Boscha went to the pitcher's mound and placed a hand on Amity's shoulder.

"Don't worry, tomorrow she's a dead girl." she walked off towards the locker room, leaving Amity to rub her tired arm.

Luz was bombarded with people, all praising her for amazing batting. She saw her aunt over the sea of people smiling at her, she mouth _what did I tell you?_ Luz responded with a _Thank you._ She turned to see Amity standing alone at the mound, nursing her shoulder.

Luz frowned and pushed through the crowd to get to her. "Hey."

Amity looked up from her shoulder "What Luz, come to rub it in my face?".

Luz stuck out her hand. "Good game, that was a close one."

Amity looked at her hand and then at the group surrounding them. "I- I-" That feeling in her stomach from earlier came back. _Why is she being nice to me?_ " I have to go." Amity ran off towards the locker room.

"Amity wait!-" but before she could chase after her, Luz was swept up by the team again. _I'll talk to her tomorrow._ Luz thought. and let herself be swept up in the joy of the rest of the team.


	2. The All-Star

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz contemplates what to do about Amity, seeking her mothers' help. Her decision may be tougher than she thought. Amity continues to have missed feelings about Luz and today only makes them worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update! I had a lot of work to do this week and did not time manage properly. I decided to do weekly updates every Friday, of not counting today, since I got it out late. I hope you enjoy this chapter! I tried to space it better this time.

Luz stayed on the field long after everyone left. Tossing balls into the air and hitting them into the outfield. Partially because she was waiting for her Tía, but mostly she was trying to process everything that happened. She tossed another ball into the air, hitting it to right field. _Most of the girls are nice._ She tried to remember who was in what position. _Willow was third, easy._ She hit another ball out into the center field. _Viney, center field._ Another ball. _Cat, left field. Amelia, second base._ The bat gave a resounding 'crack', launching another ball. _Celeste, right field. Skara, shortstop._ 'Crack'. **_Boscha._** She wasn't blind to the girl's ugly looks she gave her today and her cold behavior to her during practice. _Is First base._ She hit that ball a little harder than necessary. _And that leaves._ She grabbed the last ball in the bucket. "Amity.Pitcher."

Amity was an enigma to her. Luz couldn't deny that her stomach did flips when she saw the girl in her chemistry class, and again in the locker room, but her demeanor seemed to change every 30 minutes. One minute she's nice and the next she's in her face. "Team Captain Blight." She didn't feel like a captain, she was selfish and snobby, and fake and a real b-

"I hope you plan on picking those up," Lilith called to her.

Luz let out a sigh. "Was this the right choice tía?"

Lilith pointed to the outfield. "The baseballs? Not really, now you have to pick them up and we’re already late to dinner-”

Luz let out a frustrated groan, “No I mean this-” She gestured to the field. “You said that this team has my back, but in one day I’ve managed to piss off our team captain and her cronies.”

“ And you’ve managed to make friends with the rest. Luz, there are always going to be a select few who think they’re better than everyone else, All-stars want to be if you will, but it’s how you bond with the rest of the team that matters.” She walked up to Luz and gave her a side hug. “And, correct me if I'm wrong, but the girls seemed ecstatic to have you on their team. You belong here Luz, whether you believe it or not. As for Ms. Blight, appearances aren’t always what they seem.”

Luz blushed. “It seems like you’re full of wisdom today.” Lilith laughed. “I try my best. Now go pick those balls up. I want dinner.” Luz saluted her aunt. “ Yes, ma’am.”

***

The dining room was quiet. Amity had already washed the sweat from practice. She was now dressed in an evening dress, sitting at one end of a long dining table. Across from her sat her siblings and her mother, all also dressed in evening attire. At the head of the table sat her father, nose deep in a book.

”How was everyone’s day?” Amity’s mother asked. That was a warning flag to the kids, she never asked about their days without having an ulterior motive.

”Fine mother.” Edric answered, trying to contain his composure. “ I got the highest marks on my physics exam in the class.”

“Which was?’ She asked, with an edge to her voice.

“110 percent.”

Their mother smiled a plastic smile. “Excellent. How about you Emira?”

Emira finished her bite of food. “I won first prize in our robotics club.” She monotoned.

Her smile grew. “ I’m glad you two have kept up the family reputation. What about you, Amity,” her mother chimed, “How was practice.?”

Amity flinched involuntarily. “ It was fine, We have a new girl on the team.”

The smile dropped. “ I heard. I also heard that she beat you in the home run derby.” Amity remained silent. “ Amity Blight, how very disappointing.” Amity hung her head in shame. “ your father and I expect nothing, but the best from you. I expect you to train more and get back on top. What’s our motto?”

“ Blights are never second best,” she mumbled.

“Very good.” Her father rose from his book.

“Amity, I expect you and your siblings in my study after dinner.” Amity slouched in her chair. “Yes, Father.” the three answered.

“But honey, we were supposed to discuss the invitations for the Autumn Gala this evening, with Gloria.” Amity’s father pointed a sharp gaze towards his wife.

“I’m sure you and Gloria can manage without me, Odalia.” The two entered a heated staring contest until Odalia submitted.

“Fine. But I shall hear no complaints about the attendance this year, Alador.” He had already returned to his book. “ I’m sure I’ll manage dear.” They finished their dinner in silence, the children too afraid to set off whatever ticking time bomb was forming beneath the surface of their parents’ tiff.

***

When Luz opened the front door, she was greeted by the savory smell of empanadas and black dog at her feet. “Hey King!” she scratched the dog’s head. “Mama, Mamí, We’re home she shouted into the house. A woman, with the same skin tone as Luz and thick glasses, came out of the kitchen. Spatula in hand.

“Well, how nice of you to join us.”

Luz flinched at her mama’s harsh tone. “Sorry, we’re late.” she chuckled nervously.

“You both had me worried sick. Lilith you could’ve at least answered my calls.”

Lilith gave her a confused look, “Your calls?” She pulled her phone out of her pocket to see three missed calls from Camilla. “Oh, I apologize, I must have turned off my ringer.” She blushed, rubbing the back of her head.

”Mhmm, well now you’re on dish duty.” Camilla scolded.

Lilith nodded her head. “That is only fair.”

Camilla let out a sigh, “I’m glad you’re home safe. Now you-” She pointed to Luz. “upstairs and go shower, and you-” she pointed to Lilith “ Go help your sister before she burns my house down.”

“But mama,-” Luz whined. “Eso huele tan bien y me muero de hambre!”

Camilla shook her head. "I don’t care how hungry you are, you smell and look like a pigpen. Shower now!”

Luz groaned. “Yes, Mama.” She took off her shoes and headed upstairs.

Lilith laughed, “ever the charismatic one.” She followed after Camilia into the kitchen.

“She gets that from Eda.”

The silver-haired woman heard her name and turned around. “Who gets what from me now?” Camilla gave Eda a gentle kiss on the cheek.

“Our daughter’s inability to bathe comes from you.”

Eda gave a toothy grin, showing off her gold tooth.“That’s my girl.”

the other women in the room cringed. “Edalyn that’s disgusting” her sister spat.

“Eh, a little dirt never hurt anybody.”

Camilla shook her head. “ I swear you would live in a shack if I would let you.”

The pale-skinned woman’s smile turned cheeky, “with pride.” They all laughed.

By the time Luz came down the table was set and her family was already waiting for her at the table in the dining room. She sat down next to her aunt and they all began filling their plates with food. “So honey, how was your first day?” Camilla asked. “Did you smoke all those other girls with your amazing baseball skills?” Eda added, earning a sharp elbow to the ribs from her wife. “What?! It’s an honest question!”

Luz laughed at her mothers’ antics. “It was okay. I made some friends, Willow, Gus, and Viney, and I managed to piss off our captain.”

Eda beamed. “Look at you kiddo! The first day and you’re already ruling the school!” “Ruling is a strong word, surviving is more like it.” “What?! You are destroying it! You already knocked the top player off their throne!” Eda grew in excitement while Luz fell into dread.

“I wasn’t trying to! Honest! She’s just… confusing? I guess? One minute I think we’re going to be the best of chums and the next she’s in my face and all like ‘rawwuuurrgh’” Luz made a funny face to prove her point.

Lilith decided now would be a good time but in, “She did not knock anyone off of any throne,” Lilith gave Luz a warm smile,” But yes, she was quite impressive in today’s practice.” That put Luz somewhat at ease.

“I just want to get along with everyone and I feel like I ruined my chances with the girl.” Camilla gave Luz a reassuring look, “I’m sure that’s not the case. Sometimes people take a little more time to open up to people than others. Try having a simple conversation with her. Find out what she likes.” Luz gave her mama a small smile. “Thanks, Mama I’ll try it.” She turned to her aunt “Do you think you could take me to school early tomorrow? I want to try talking to Amity before Class.”

“Of course Luz.”

Eda put an arm around Camilla. “And no matter what happens, just know we’re proud of you kiddo. And that we love you.”

Luz smiled at her moms’ “ I love you too.”

“ Now.” Eda clapped her hands and rubbed them together. “Let’s eat!” Lilith turned to her sister. “ Eda, something Luz told me sparked my interest today. Did you tell her that **I** was the one who lost my lunch on our first day of practice?” Eda’s face dropped. Thinking fast, she shoveled most of her food into her mouth. “ Can’t talk now, got food in my mouth.” She gargled through her food.

“Edalyn!”

***

After dinner, the three siblings gave their father a few minutes, before climbing the stairs to their dad’s office. Amity quietly knocked on the door.

“Enter.”

Amity pushed open the heavy oak door. Their father sat at his desk, his glasses on, reading a set of papers on his desk.

“ Sit.”

They did as they were told, Amity and Emira taking the chairs opposite their father’s desk, Ed sitting on the arm of Em’s chair. They sat in silence, letting Alador finish what he was reading. He set the paper down and looked up to his children.

“So how’s school really?” All three sighed in relief. The twins wasted no time in delving into the minute details of their days while Amity stayed on the quieter side.

Alador laughed at his children’s stories. That was the difference between Alador and Odalia, while he would never show it in public, Alador had a soft spot for his children. That’s not to say they were different in every aspect, both believed in a firm hand when it came to raising the kids, Alador was just not as strict as their mother. “Emira, how’s that friend of yours, ah what’s her name? Viney?”

Emira blushed, “She’s fine, father.”

“well, that's good to hear. Now that everything’s settled-” He pulled out three envelopes. “Your allowances for the week.” He handed each of them one. “Now, you are dismissed.” The children got up and began leaving the room. “Oh, Amity, a word.” Amity stood frozen in her place. The warmness in her father’s tone had gone. The twins gave her a sympathetic look and left the study, closing the door behind them. Amity turned, expecting the worst from her father. “ The new girl, did she best you in the derby?”

Amity could only nod her head, her throat dry.

“ I agree with your mother on this, Blights don’t take second place.”

She hung her head. “Yes, Father.”

He continued, “You have a reputation to uphold. What is to come of you if the Amity Blight was bested by a nobody.” 

Amity’s blood ran cold. “I won’t let it happen again.” She spat out.

“I know it won’t because you know what happens if you do.” Amity felt small as her father’s gaze loomed over her. She swallowed and nodded her head. “Good. I’m glad we could see eye to eye on this. You are dismissed.”

Amity turned and briskly walked out of the room and to her room. Only then, when her door was closed and safely locked behind her, did she show emotion. She pressed her back against the door and slid down it, tears streaming down her face.

***

The next morning Luz woke up early to try and catch Amity before her first class. Her aunt drove her, excited about Luz’s punctuality. They arrived a half-hour before classes and Luz raced up the steps into the school. In hindsight, it wasn’t the best idea. Luz didn’t know if Amity even arrived early to school. She wandered the halls, finding no trace of Amity. She eventually found herself in the school’s library. Being so early there were not many people there. Those that were, looked to be taking naps more than reading.

 _Well, since I’m waiting._ She sat at one of the tables and pulled out her English book, deciding to get ahead of this week’s reading. She looked at the time before opening it. _Twenty minutes. Okay, ten minutes to read and ten to look for Amity._ She began reading, ignoring her surroundings until a hand slammed her book to the table.

“Hey, luz,” Boscha said in a sickly sweet tone.

“Hi, Boscha,” Luz responded, wincing at how meek her voice sounded. “Can I help you with something?”

The pink-haired girl smirked, “So you bested Blight yesterday, bet you think you’re hot shit now.”

“No, I-I don’t, actually I-”

Boscha cut her off. “Good, Keep it that way.” She brought her face within inches of Luz’s. “The next time you step out of line, our conversation won’t be as friendly.” Boscha turned to walk away when Luz called out to her,

“Do you know if Amity’s here?”

Boscha whipped around in surprise. ”Why do you want to know?” Luz rubbed her arm.

“I wanted to Apologize.”

Boscha barked out a laugh. “Don’t even think about it Noceda. If I see you anywhere near her, outside of practice, I will personally see that you won’t make it to the end of this season.” And with that Boscha left the room. Luz sunk into the chair “joderme.” _This is going to be a challenge. Lucky for me I never back down from a challenge._

_***_

Amity awoke to both a pounding in her head and a pounding at her door.

“Mittens! It’s time to get up, sleepyhead!” Emira’s muffled voice called.

She blinked her eyes open, squinting when the bright sun flared into them. _Ugh. Note to self: Don’t cry before bed if you don’t want a headache in the morning._ She sat up in her bed, her feet hitting the cold hardwood. She walked across her room and into her personal bathroom. She stared at herself in the mirror. _I look like shit._ She opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out a bottle of aspirin as well as her essentials for the day. Taking the aspirin, she quickly got ready for her day and raced down to the kitchen to meet up with her siblings.

“Damn. Mittens, you look like hell.” Edric commented, earning himself a glare from the aforementioned sibling.

“You would look like hell too if you had to deal with our parents.”

Emira and Edric shared a look. “ Yeah, we heard what happened. Do you want to talk about it?” Emira reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Nope.” Amity grabbed an apple from a bowl on the counter. “Let’s go.” She walked briskly out the side door to the carport, the twins following close behind. Amity felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She received a new message from Boscha. 

**_Boscha_ **

_You won’t have to worry about Noceda anymore. ;)_

Amity’s resting frown deepened.

**_Me_ **

_What does that mean?_

**_Boscha_ **

_I had a little talk with her. She won’t be showing you up anytime soon._

**_Me_ **

_Oh. . . thanks?_

Emira waved a hand in front of Amity’s face. “Earth to mittens! Are you coming?”

Amity looked up from her phone. “Oh, yeah, sorry.” She hopped into the back of Emira’s car, continuing her text with Boscha.

“Everything okay Amity?” Edric asked, looking at her through the rearview mirror.

“Apparently Boscha dealt with the new girl for me.” Edric raised an eyebrow. “That’s good?” His voice rose a few pitches with his question. Amity groaned.

“Yes, I mean no, I mean, I don’t know.”

Emira pulled up to Viney’s house. Viney hoped in the back with Amity, noticing the girl's concerned face. “Everything okay?”

Emira laughed, “Amity’s having girl trouble.” Being caught up in her own world, Amity failed to notice her sister’s play on words.

“I just can’t figure Luz out. She seems nice, but then she’s cocky in the locker room, and then she embarrasses me in front of the team on the field!”

“Embarrassed is a strong word Am.” She shot Viney a glare. Viney didn’t back down though. “She beat you, it happens, just like when we lose a game. It’s not like she’s trying to take your captainship from you.”

Amity let out a huff. “I guess that’s true,” she mumbled. Viney put a hand on her shoulder.

“Can you do me a favor?” Amity Nodded her head, “Talk to her, you might be surprised to find that she’s a good person.”

Emira pulled into a parking spot in the school lot. All four stepped out of the car as the first warning bell rang. They all rushed to get inside. Amity stopping Viney before the front door. “I’ll think about what you said.” Viney smiled. “Good.” The two rushed into the building as the second warning bell rang.

***

Luz sat at her seat with her head resting in the palm of her hand, waiting for the period to start. She looked over and saw Willow and Gus at the doorway. She waved them over to join her table. “Hey, Luz!” Gus perked. “What’s up?” Willow added, noticing Luz’s sour demeanor. “Boscha is what’s up.”

“Oh. Yeah, she’s the worst."

Willow and Gus took their seats as the conversation continued. “You could have told me yesterday to not interfere with Little Miss perfect and her mate?”

Willow hissed, “What did she do?”

Luz laid her head on the desk. “She basically forbade me from ever speaking to Amity.” Willow shook her head. “Maybe it’s for the best, Amity’s just as bad as her.” Luz groaned. “I would like to at least apologize.”

Willow scoffed, “For what? Putting Amity in her place? If you ask me, she deserved it.”

“I just feel like I embarrassed her, and I didn’t mean to! I just want to make amends so we can at least work together for the team.”

“She has a point, Willow, even if you think Amity deserved it. They need to work together if you girls want a shot at the championships this year.” Gus chimed.

“Why are you so against her anyways?” Willow’s jaw clenched and she turned away from the pair.

“Willow and Amity used to be friends, they were even in the same little league together.” 

“Until Amity got the middle school varsity team and I didn’t. Then she blew me off, deciding I wasn’t worthy of her time.” Willow growled. “Ouch. I’m sorry Willow, I know how that feels, being the outcast.” Willow looked down, suddenly finding the ground interesting. “I’ve moved on, I got Gus and you now so-” Willow was cut off by a pair of arms wrapped around her. Both Gus and Luz had enveloped her in a group hug. She smiled, “Thanks, guys.” The trio separated.

“I won't apologize to Amity if it makes you feel better.” Willow waved her hand. “No, You should apologize to her, thank you for being supportive though.” Luz smiled, “anytime.”

“How do you plan on getting to her. Didn’t you say Boscha ‘forbade’ you from going near Amity?” Gus asked. “I’ll just wait until She's not around Amity to talk to her.” Gus and Willow gave a look to each other. “What? What are those looks for?”

“That’s going to be hard,” Gus said. “Amity and Boscha share a lot of classes, they’re practically glued to the hip.”

“Great, just great.” Luz flopped back down onto the desk. "Back to square one."

“don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll figure something out, “ Willow reassured. “Thanks.” The trio continued small talk until class started.

***

Amity thought about Viney’s words all morning, distracting her for most of her schoolwork. Around the third period, Amity decided that the least she could do was talk to Luz for Viney, but that left her with Boscha. She was definitely mad at the girl, for two reasons. One, Amity could fight her own battles and was angry that Boscha decided to but in. Two, she also mad that she possibly ruined her chances with the girl, friend-wise at least. _Ugh, leave it to Boscha to make things ten times more complicated than they already are._

“Ms. Blight, can you figure out what’s wrong with this equation?”

Amity snapped her head up to the chemical equation on the board. _Shit._ “It’s unbalanced?” she guessed.

“Very good Ms. Blight.”

She sighed in relief. “Can you come up, and solve it?” _Double shit._ “Yes, sir.” she briskly walked up to the board and took the chalk from her professor. She took a look at the equation on the board, it was a decomposition of water and chlorine. She quickly did the math in her head and wrote her answer out. 

“Thank you, Ms. Blight. Does anyone see a flaw in her work?”

They both looked out to the class. A wave of relief washed over her when no one disagreed, until. . .

“Actually, there shouldn’t be a two in front of the O2 at the reaction. That multiplies our oxygen’s by four and that’s not possible because we don’t have that many.”

Amity knew that voice. She closed her eyes, bracing herself to face her.

“Good eye Ms. Noceda.” the teacher praised as Amity looked over at her. Luz wore an apologetic face and rubbed the back of her neck. She mouthed a ‘sorry’ to Amity, but she got a glare in return. Twice! That’s twice now she’s swooped in and embarrassed her when she’s off her game. This time was worse because she was off her game because of her! This had to stop, she had to sort this out for her own sanity’s sake.

*** 

Luz, Gus, and Willow made a plan for Luz to talk to Amity during lunch. Willow and Gus would take the fall and distract Boscha, while she would go find and talk to Amity.

“Okay, Luz and I will go grab her lunch, and if we see Boscha I’ll go distract her. Gus, you look for her on your way to our table.” 

Willow and Luz began walking to the lunch line, deep in conversation, failing to notice the group walking away from the lunch line.

Emira and Boscha were listening intently to Amity’s ranting.

“- and the only reason she was able to embarrass me was because of her.” Boscha cut in,

“ I’m sorry Ams, If I see her again I’ll-” Amity turned to Boscha pointed a finger at her, and holding her tray in the other hand,

“you made it worse! I can fight my own battles, I don’t need you too-”

both parties failed to notice the other and that resulted in a head-on collision. Amity’s tray of pasta flew into her chest as the Luz bumped into her chest. Amity shrieked as the food fell down her chest.

“Look what you did you nitwit! Are you serious? What’s your problem with me?”

“Oh Dios mío, Amity I’m so sorry.”

But it was no use as Amity ran off to the bathroom. This time Luz was determined not to let Amity getaway. She ran off after Amity, and Emira ran off after both of them. Boscha tried to chase after them, but Willow blocked her path.

“ Get out of my way four eyes.” Willow continued to match her steps.

“Excuse me? You’re in my way.” Boscha let out a frustrated scream as Willow kept her in the cafeteria. Luz opened the bathroom door to find Amity with a wet paper towel, viciously rubbing at her shirt. She had tears streaming down her face. She looked up to see Luz.

“ What do you want?” She sniffed, “Come to embarrass me more?”

Luz closed the door behind her. “No, I came to apologize. About multiple things actually.” Amity looked at her orange stained shirt and threw the paper towel down in defeat. “Her let me help.”

Amity knocked her extended hand away. “Don’t-” She took a deep breath. “Please don’t touch me. I think you’ve done enough for today.” The girls fell into an uncomfortable silence. Luz was speechless, she didn’t know how she could make this right. “You know, I just can’t figure you out Noceda, one minute you’re nice, the next minute you’re embarrassing me in front of the team and the school.” Luz fiddled with her hands. Amity decided to continue, “You know, I worked my whole life to get to where I am. Then you come along and change everything like that.” Amity snapped her fingers to prove the point.

Luz finally got the courage to speak up. “I didn’t mean to you know. I just want to fit in, I never intended to embarrass you, any of those times. I especially didn’t mean to do that.” She pointed at Amity’s shirt. “I’m really sorry. About everything. The derby, today in class, all of it. Can- can we just start over?”

Amity sighed. She didn’t know what it was, maybe it was that this ordeal was exhausting, maybe she didn’t feel like putting up a fight. She wanted to forgive her, but she wasn’t sure if she could do that yet. “How about we just leave each other alone for a while. I can act civil around you during class and practice, but I just, need time to think.”

Luz nodded her head “I can understand that. I can act civil around you too. I promise I can give the space you need.”

The door to the bathroom creaked open to reveal Emira. “Hey, Amity. I brought you your letterman jacket.” Amity gave her sister a befuddled look. “That was in my locker, how did you- You know what I don’t want to know.” Emira laughed, “Probably not.” She looked over at Luz. “Hey, Ams. I think Ed has an extra shirt in his locker, why don’t you go ask him for it?”

“Okay.” Amity began to walk out. “Are you coming?”

Emira put her hands in her back pockets. “In a minute. I want to talk to Luz, here for a sec.”

Amity’s face time turned sour, “Em it’s fine we figured it out.”

“I know, This about something else.” Amity nodded her head and walked out. Luz watched her go with disappointment on her face.

Emira waited a few minutes before she began. “Look, don’t take anything Amity said to personally. She can get a little emotional sometimes, especially when someone new comes along. She can get a little… testy.”

Luz laughed dryly. “Yeah and I’m sure me embarrassing her like that didn’t help.” 

“Yeah. Don’t sweat it though, you’re actually one of the better encounters she’s had.”

“yikes,” Luz commented.

Em laughed,” Yeah that did not end well.” Both girls laughed.

“Why are you being nice to me? I saw the way you looked at me the first day,” Luz asked, fearing the answer.

“Sorry about that, I get a little jealous when it comes to Viney. But she vouched for you which means you’re alright in my book.”

Luz nodded. “Thank god, I was fully expecting you to beat me up.”

“be sure to thank her for that.” Luz laughed. “I will.” Emira smiled, “good, well I’ll catch you later cutie.” Emira winked and turned to walk out the door. Luz blushed and stuttered to get words out. “Wait, I didn’t catch your name.”

“It’s Emira” she called over her shoulder.

“Well thank you, Emira!” Luz left the bathroom shortly after Emira. She was immediately greeted by the concerned faces of her friends.

“Are you okay? Did she hurt you?” Gus was poking and prodding at her face.

“I’m fine Gus. We talked things out.”

“And?” Willow questioned.

“We agreed to be civil with each other,” Luz assured her.

“That’s great!”

Luz Rubbed the back of her neck. “Yep, it’s great.” _So why do I feel disappointed?_ Willow noticed the disappointment on Luz’s face, but before she could ask what was wrong, the bell rang. “I’ll see you guys later,” Luz mumbled and briskly walked to her next class.

***

Practice went better than yesterday, Lilith deciding to work on different plays since Luz still needed a few more days to learn the signs of Amity’s pitches. The locker room after practice was a bit hostile. Luz could practically feel the heat of anger radiating from Boscha. Boscha never did anything though, whatever Amity had told her before practice prevented her from tearing Luz limb from limb. Now it was late and Lilith was driving Luz home.

“So how did your talk go. Ms. Blight didn’t seem to be at your throat at practice.”

Luz shrugged in the passenger seat. “Good. We agreed to act nice around each other.”

Lilith smiled. “I’m glad you two could work this out.”

Luz nodded in agreement, but something still felt wrong to her. They got home and Luz immediately went up the stairs to the bathroom. Camilla and Eda looked at each other and then at Lilith.

“What happened.” They asked in unison.

Lilith quirked an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Eda pointed to the stairs. “She never goes upstairs without saying hi unless she’s upset.” They heard the water running for a shower.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. She said everything was fine in the car. She sorted her situation out with Ms. Blight, and practice went well.”

“Well, obviously not, sis.” Eda sighed, "I'll talk to her after she gets out of the shower."

Luz finished her shower and went to her room to lay on her bed. She stared at the ceiling replaying today’s events in her head when she heard a knock at the door. “ one sec, “ she quickly threw on PJ shorts and top and opened the door. She was greeted by the warm face of Eda.

“Hey, kid. Everything ok?”

Luz turned and flopped back on her bead as an answer.

“Okay. What happened?” She sat on the edge of the bed.

“We made up. Decided we could work together for the sake of the team and school.” Luz said. Muffled by her pillow.

“well, that’s good.” She looked at Luz’s expression. “Not good?”

Luz groaned. “It should be.” 

“But it isn’t. Not to you at least.” Eda filled in.

Luz shot up pointing both hands at Eda. “Exactly! Like, she said she forgave me, and just that-”

“ it doesn’t feel right.” Eda finished.

Luz nodded her head. “qué debo hacer Mom?”

Eda stroked her chin. “That’s a tough one. Why do you think you’re feeling this way.” Luz shrugged. “Helpful.” Eda chuckled. “Look, sometimes we don’t have control over our feelings, especially at your age. They don’t always have a reason behind them, but I do know that they’re valid.” She bumped Luz’s shoulder. “ So you feel bummed out, it happens.”

“but it’s more than that.” Luz looked at hands, picking at her fingernails. “I feel like I let her down. Which is stupid because I don’t even know her. But there’s this feeling in the back of my head that tells me that I should have done more.”

Eda gave Luz a side hug. “If I know you, and I do, I know you did your best, and that’s all you can do. Now come on-” She patted Luz on the back. “Let’s eat dinner, and I’ll let you pick the movie for tonight.”

Luz chuckled, “Really? You hate the movies I pick.”

“Hate is a strong word, but yes I’m sure. From the sound of your day, you deserve it.”

Luz followed her mother out her door, questions still running through her mind, but thankful for the words Eda had given her. Luz spent the rest of the night enjoying the distraction her family gave her before she had to return to her reality tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we have met the parents! I was super hesitant to write Odalia and Alador, since we don't have a lot of information about them yet. Dana said Alador was an interesting character to write for, which makes me think he's stern, but does have a soft spot for the kids, unlike Odalia. I think we can all agree that everyone just needs a hug. As Always I am open to constructive criticism. In case you didn't read the author's notes in the beginning, I decided to do weekly Friday updates. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	3. weekend Mayhem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz helps Eda with her shop on the weekend and makes friends with an unlikely pair of people at the mall. chaos ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me posting on time? Unthinkable. Sorry for the shorter chapter. I wanted to write more, but I think leaving it off where I did makes for a great setup for the next chapter! As always I hope you enjoy and if you leave a comment I'll be sure to answer.

Luz had to avoid people before, bullies at her old school, her mothers’ when she was in trouble, the list went on, but those were different. Those times the tension from hiding would dissolve into misery and regret when she was caught, a relief to her mind. This time the tension only grew. They would both seem to freeze everytime they would see one another, the awkwardness of not knowing what to do or say. Luz supposed that also contributed to the problem, there was nothing inherently wrong with them, just the agreement to avoid each other. It was like their vow was broken every time they saw each other, but instead of getting angry with one another, they would mumble apologies and run off in different directions. This led to Luz being spent by the end of the week.

It was Saturday morning and Luz was uncharacteristically still in bed at ten. She would have stayed in bed longer too, if it had not been for Eda. The door to Luz’s bedroom slammed open to reveal her mother behind it.

“Alright kid!Time to get up, you're gonna help me with the shop today!”

Eda walked into the bedroom and pulled back the curtains, letting in the natural sun. Luz groaned, “Five more minutes.” and pulled the covers over head to shield her from the rays. 

“Nope” Eda pulled the covers from Luz’s grip. “Mom’s at work, that means I’m responsible for you, now come on.” Eda pulled at Luz’s arms, getting her into a sitting position. “It’ll be fun.”

Luz yawned and rubbed her eyes, blinking away the bleariness in them. She looked to the edge of her bed to see King still sleeping peacefully. “Lucky mutt,” she grumbled. A shirt hit her face followed by a pair of pants. 

“Come on, we have to leave soon.” Eda walked out of the room. From down the hall she heard her Mom’s voice call back to her. “Grab your gear! If you’re nice about helping me at the shop you might get some batting practice!”

Now much more awake at the prospect of batting, Luz hopped out of her bed. She grabbed the clothes that Eda had roughly thrown at her and raced down the hall to get ready for the day. Once showered and dressed she walked down to the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast of toast. Eda honked the horn signaling that she was already in the car. “One second!” she called back. She felt a pawing at her leg and looked to see King giving her the biggest puppy eyes she had ever seen.”Oh, sorry King, I almost forgot.” Luz filled King’s bowl, picked up her gear and went outside to greet her Mami. 

“Took you long enough.” Eda commented as Luz slid into the passenger seat.”Sorry, had to feed King.” Eda nodded her head in response, backed out of the driveway and drove off in the direction of her shop. “So what’s up with you, you never sleep in this late.” 

Luz shrugged her soldiers, “Just tired I guess.”

“Well I hope you won’t be too tired for today, we got a lot of work to do.” Eda pulled into the parking lot of the marketplace. Eda owned a small shop in the venue, where she made and sold essential oils, homemade remedies, and oddities from around the world. She had a huge following among the Wicca community. On a normal day, Luz would be thrilled to help, but today was not a normal day. 

Eda unlocked the door to the curio shop and the scent of lavender incense washed over the pair. “Mami did you leave a stick burning before you left yesterday?” 

Eda rubbed her neck, “It might be possible that I forgot to snuff out the stick yesterday.”

Luz threw her hands into the air. “You could have burnt the place to the ground!”

Eda waggled a finger “Ah, but I didn’t my dear daughter, and that is the important thing.” Luz shook her head. _Dios Mio._ Eda flipped the ‘closed’ sign to ‘open’ and set to work straightening up the store for potential customers. Luz walked to the back of the store and sat on the glass counter holding all sorts of jewelry.

“So, what do you want me to do?” she asked.

“Well, first I want you to get off that counter before you break it. Then I want your help with some of my remedy orders.” Luz hopped off the counter and saluted Eda.

“Yes, Ma’am.” She turned and went through the doorway of beads marked ‘employees only’. It led to the back of the store, where Eda’s main setup was stored. Here she had assortments of herbs and oils as well as a worksop station for various knick knacks to be made. Luz grabbed a clipboard off the wall next to her and began reading the names of orders that had yet to be filled.

“Does Ms. Krone want one or two vials of mint fragrance oil? And You only wrote down crystal for Mr. Boman, what kind does he need?” She shouted to Eda.

“Two and a tiger’s eye.” she answered. Luz set to work grabbing paper bags from a shelf and going around the store filling orders. Labeling them so Eda knew who to give them to. This took about an hour or so, and when she was done Eda decided it was time for lunch.

“You stay here and man the shop, you know how to work the register?”

Luz nodded her head, “You’ve only shown me about a million times.”

“And it’s about to be a million and one.” Eda showed Luz how to ring up orders, enter coupons, and reminded her that the drawer sometimes stuck. All things Luz already knew. Luz waved her off, assuring her she had it, and to go get their lunch. Eda ruffled her hair and left, promising to be back soon. Luz went back to Eda’s workshop, deciding to restock the shelves and bins of the items she took from them. She heard the bell to the door chime and went to greet the customer with her back turned, still holding a box full of Rose Quartz. 

“Welcome to Eda’s _Potions and Notions_. How can I help you?” She turned to see the twins, dropping the box onto the counter in surprise. “Emira and clone of Emira, hi!” she wiped her, suddenly clammy, palms onto her jeans. “What are you two doing here?” The clone of Emira laughed, “Well, it’s Edric for starters.”

“And we came here to see what all the fuss was about. A couple of our friends said that this place was worth checking out.” Emira winked, making Luz’s cheeks match the color of the crystals in front of her.

Luz couldn’t decide whether she wanted to curl into a ball and die, or to continue the conversation. Emira decided for her. “Ed this is Luz. The girl Viney was talking about.”

Ed also winked at Luz, making her cheeks another shade darker, “I know. We’ve met, she paid for my lunch. I still owe you for that by the way.”

“And I told you not to you not to worry about it.” Luz was surprised at the words coming out of her mouth. She snapped back from wherever she was, only to have an instant wave of dread wash over her. “Amity isn’t with you, is she?” 

“Relax. We left mittens at the Barnes and Noble around the corner.” Edric threw a thumb over his shoulder to the door. Luz stifled a laugh. “Mittens?” she questioned.

Emira smiled, “that's what we call Amity. It’s our nickname for her.” Luz made an ‘O’ with her mouth and picked up the discarded box off the counter. “Well, how can I help you two today?” Ed bumped Emira’s side, making the girl stumble forward slightly. Emira was suddenly nervous as fumbled out her next words. 

“Well, Viney is really into this stuff-” gesturing to their surroundings, “and I was hoping for some help on what to get her. I’m a little lost.” Luz shot Ed a knowing look as he rolled his eyes in return. Luz smiled, “Yeah, I think I can help you out.”

***

Luz was trying to ring Emira up, when Eda arrived with lunch. Luz had helped Emira pick out a book titled, _Essential Herbs and Modern Medicine,_ a necklace with a stone holder, and a few incense sticks that Emira remembered smelling in Viney’s room. Now, the three teens circled the cash register as Ed was trying to pull it open. Luz and Emira, both laughing at his failing attempt.

“If I couldn’t get it open, what makes you think you can?” Luz snarked as Ed continued tugging on the drawer. 

“Because I- can-” he managed to grunt out before his fingers slipped and sent him tumbling to the floor. This set the girls howling in laughter. Ed stood up dusting off his pants and bruised ego.

“Am I interrupting? Luz who is this strange boy, and why is he trying to break into my cash register?” Eda questioned, looking down at the bag in her arms. “I don’t think we have enough food here?” She smiled, letting Luz know she wasn’t serious. 

“Oh!” Luz perked, noticing her Mami for the first time “Hola Mami, this is Emira and Edric Blight.” the twins smiled and waved.”Emira here was just looking for something to buy for her _girlfriend._ ” Luz mocked as her and Ed poked Emira in her sides. Emira's face turned red as she swatted away their hands. “So I like my girlfriend, sue me.” she slumped on the counter.

“Still doesn’t answer why the elf boy here is getting into the register.” Eda pointed to Edric.

“I was ringing Emira up when the drawer stuck.I tried to pry it open and when I couldn’t, Edric and Emira decided to try.”

Eda walked over to the register and sent a sharp elbow to the side of it. It popped open with a ding, and Eda sent a smirk over to the teens. “Thanks for loosening it.” The three stared in disbelief. Em and Ed’s jaws slightly ajar. Eda laughed at them and finished the transaction for Emira.

“How- how did you-” Ed stammered. 

“Magic.” Eda shrugged. The three exploded into laughter.Luz, dying down enough to ask the twins a question. “So. I got to ask. What’s with the green hair? How do you keep it so dark?”

“It’s all natural.” Edric replied, running a hand through said hair. They broke out into another laughing fit.

“Seriously though.” Luz said, wiping a tear from her eye. “What product do you use?” Ed and Em looked between each other and quirked identical eyebrows at the latina.

“We’re serious. Rare family trait on our Mother’s side.” 

Luz failed to notice the dip in the twin’s energy as she began gushing over their hair. “ That’s so cool! The only thing I inherit from my parents is my lactose intolerance.” 

The three continued their conversation, Ed and Em pushing down the feelings towards their mother to the back of their minds. The shop’s bell signaled another customer entrance.

“Ed, Em you in here?” Luz froze at the sound of the voice. 

“”Back here mittens.” called Ed. Amity weaved her way through the isles and the random object strewn about the store, until she made her way to the counter.

“Oh, hi.”

“Hi.” 

Amity and Luz stood frozen in time. Neither knowing what to say or do. Eda, Em, and Ed stared back and forth between the two. Amity seemed to snap out of it first.

“Are you two ready to go? I’ve been sitting in that book store for two hours now.” She placed a hand on her hip. 

“Alright, alright, no need to get all riled up.” Ed pushed himself off the counter, Em following suit. He stretched his hands over his head. Amity began walking out the door, expecting her siblings to follow her. Luz still standing there, rather uncomfortably. Amity left with Ed following and Em stopping at the door. “Hey, some of us are hanging out here, at the mall, tomorrow if you want to join?” She asked Luz. She rubbed the back of her neck, “I wouldn’t want to intrude. Besides I’m sure Eda wants me to help out here.” She turned to the woman, who only shook her head ‘no’. 

“Well if you change your mind.” She tossed Luz’s phone back to her. “You have my number.” 

Luz tousled her phone in the air a few times before it safely landed in the palm of her hand. “How did you?” she began to ask.

Emira waved her hand,“Don’t worry about it.” She turned to leave, but caught the door. “Oh, and don’t worry about mittens. She can be a little high strung sometimes. Give her time to get over herself.” Emira winked at her. “See you around cutie.” She left, leaving an impressed Eda and a flustered Luz in her wake. 

***

The buzz of cicadas filled the air as Eda and Luz pulled into the parking lot of the batting cages. The sky long since faded from purples and oranges, to an inky black scattered with stars. The cages were quiet this late at night, and Luz was thankful to have the space to themselves. Luz was in the cage, swinging at the random pitches the ball machine would send her. Eda stood behind it giving her tips on her stance and swing. 

“Elbows in, and lean further on your back foot, get that power you want with half the work.” Eda heard the satisfying snap of wood hitting rubber and watched as the ball went flying overhead into the field behind them. “Good.” The machine shut off with a ‘click’. “Take a break kid, you deserve it.” 

She tossed a rag for Luz to wipe her face with. “Thanks.” she said in a huff, slightly out of breath. She grabbed a water bottle and went to fill it in a nearby water fountain, coming back once it was filled. “So, why didn’t you want to hang out with those kids tomorrow.” Eda prodded.

“Like I said before, don’t you need me to help out at the store tomorrow?” Luz fibbed, hoping to get out of the real reason.

“Oh no. You're not putting this one on me. They seem like nice kids… for the most part.” Eda chuckled, recalling the phone incident. “And you seem to like hanging out with them. Unless I completely misread the interaction.” Eda handed Luz her bat.

Luz sighed, “No, you didn’t misread anything. But in case you forgot, their sister kinda hates my guts. I think.” She shook her head to straighten out her thoughts, “Maybe. The point is you saw how awkward it was between us today and it’s like that everytime. How do you think she would feel if I just started hanging out with her siblings.” She stared at the ground, kicking it with her shoe.

Eda placed both hands on Luz’s shoulder, forcing Luz to look at her. “Luz, you can’t let this one girl control your life. I know you try to be generous, but kid it’s okay to take things for yourself sometimes. So you like hanging out with her siblings, that doesn’t mean she has to hang out with you guys if you join them. You deserve to be happy too.” 

“But what if she’s there and it’s awkward.”

“Did they say she would be there?” Luz shook her head “Do you think they would invite you if they knew she would be there?” Again another head shake. “Then you have nothing to worry about. And if she is there so what? It’s only awkward if you make it that way. Live a little Luz, go have fun. It’s been a while since your mom and I have seen you this happy and have friends kiddo, enjoy it!” Eda gave her a heart warming smile, and pulled her into a hug. “And if it totally sucks you can always come back to the shop.”

Luz warped her arms tightly around Eda. “Gracias Mami. Te amo mucho.”

“ I love you too Kiddo. Now come on.” She patted Luz on the back. “ Let’s get back to it.” She moved to sit behind the pitching machine. Luz took her stance to the right of the plate.

Later that night. After they had dinner, and they were all sitting on the couch, Luz pulled out her phone. She pressed the ‘text’ button on the new contact in her phone.

Me

_Hey. It’s Luz! I changed my mind, I would love to hang out with you guys tomorrow._

Emira:)

 _Knew you would ;) see you tomorrow cutie._


	4. Weekend Mayhem (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The weekend is not over yet, and it might turn out to be better or worse for Luz.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for over 200 readers!!! What!? I thought I would get maybe 70 at the most,, thank you all for taking the time to read this!! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

After spending the whole morning deciding on an outfit to wear, Luz finally sat in the passenger's seat in Eda’s car. “Finally ready fashionista?” Eda berated.

Luz sunk down in the seat, flustered beyond belief. “Yes.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

Eda let out a roar of laughter. “Oh, is someone _nervous_?”

“What,? No!” Luz squeaked. “I’m fine. What do I have to be nervous about? It's only a group of totally cool, totally cute, teens that want to hang out with me for some otherworldly reason. ¿Qué estoy haciendo? Esto es tan estúpido que se darán cuenta de que no soy genial y me dejarán. ¿Por qué acepté esto?” Luz began hyperventilating.

“Woah, Luz, mija breathe, it’s going to be fine. You’re a great kid, they are totally lucky to hang out with you, Get out of your head, you got this.” She pulled into her usual parking spot. Putting it in park, she turned to Luz. “Don’t bring yourself down. These kids like you for you, don’t let that big brain of yours convince you otherwise.” She tapped Luz's forehead to make her point.

Luz took a deep breath, expelling all of the negative energy pent up in her. “I got this.”

“You got this. Now get pumped.”

“Pumped!” punching the air with her fists.

“Get ready.”

“Ready!” She brought them down, close to her chest.

“Get, out of my car!” Eda pointed to the door behind Luz. She opened the door and tumbled out of the car, newfound excitement washing through her. She bounced onto the sidewalk making her way to the center of the mall. She made it all of three steps before stopping in her tracks. “Uh, Eda, I don’t actually know where to meet them, or when actually.” Luz heard Eda snicker. She scratched the back of her head, trying to rack her brain of the conversation last night. “Oh, wait a minute.” She smacked the palm of her hand to her head. She pulled her phone from her back pocket. “I can be so oblivious sometimes.”

7:53 pm

Emira:)

_Knew you would ;) see you tomorrow cutie._

Now

Me

_So I totally spaced last night, when and where are we meetin?_

She waited for the buzz of a message, receiving it only seconds later.

Emira:)

_Lol. Fountain, noon-ish?_

_Me_

_*thumbs up*_

Checking the time she saw it was only 10:45. She tucked her phone back in its place and caught up with Eda at the store entrance. “looks like you’re stuck with me until noon.” She smirked.

“Good. You can help me set up the new shelf unit I bought.” Eda pumped her eyebrows and pushed open the door. “Speaking of, can you grab it from the trunk?” Eda tossed the car keys over her shoulder. ”Think fast.” 

Luz lunged forward, catching the keys with an ‘oof’ as she fell forward onto the cold, red-stained concrete of the store.” Caught. Them.” she wheezed, gulping for air like a fish out of water.

“Nice kid. Consider that practice, got to keep you on your toes.” 

“You. suck.” Luz groaned as she picked herself up. She dusted herself off and said a string of curses in Spanish. Luz side-eyed Eda as she left the store back to the parking lot of the mall. She unlocked and lifted open the trunk revealing a rather large and heavy-looking box. “Pendejo!” She grabbed the edge of the box and lugged it out of the trunk, Falling back as the last of it squeezed out of its restrictions. Luz let out a yell and kicked the box, another string of curses spewing from her mouth. Finally, she dusted off, closing the trunk. She carted the box over her head back into the store. “Count this as my cardio for the day too. Where do you want this?” She hollered into the store, not seeing Eda in sight.

“Over here..” Eda commanded, Somewhere deep in the store. 

“Marco.” Luz called.

“Polo.” Eda responded.

The game continued until Luz found Eda by the bookshelves on the east wall of the shop. She dropped the box with a thud. “Never make me do that again.” Luz pointed to Eda. 

“Oh quit your whining you big baby.” Eda crouched down to the box, pulling a knife out of her boot. She opened it in a swift motion.

“I am not your slave, Mami.”

Eda smiled cheekily, “You’re right, you’re not my slave, you’re better, you’re my kid. Why do you think I married your mom in the first place?” Eda began pulling out pieces in the box, half paying attention to the conversation.

“Uh, because you love her?” Luz questioned.

“That-” Eda huffed, plopping her rear onto the ground. “-And for free labor.” She grinned up at Luz. “Now come on, help me put this thing together.”

Luz rolled her eyes and sat next to Eda. “Where are the instructions?”

“Instructions are for suckers, We can do this on our own.”

***

An hour and a half later, Luz sat criss-crossed in front of a set of crumpled instructions, hammer in her left hand. “What happened to part 1B?” she called behind her.

From a mess of iron rods and screws, Eda emerged. “Didn’t we already use that part?”

“No, that was part 2B.”

“Oooooooh.” Eda disappeared back into the pile, rummaging to find the part.

“Mami, we would have been done with this a lot sooner, If we just used the instructions from the start.” Luz berated.

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t start with me now.” She heard her mom shout back. Luz felt her phone buzz in her pocket.

Emira:)

_U coming???_

Luz glanced at the time to find it was 12:15. “ Mierda!” she jumped up. “Mami, I’m late I have to go!” She started towards the exit.

“Wait, Kid! Grab my credit card from my bag! While you’re out I want you to grab that necklace your mom has been eyeing.”

“The one in Hirsch’s Jewelry?” Luz raced over to the register counter, grabbing a small backpack from under it.Unzipping the top and pulling out Eda’s wallet.

“That’s the one.”

“Why?”

“It's our anniversary soon.Go ahead and use it for your shopping too.”

Luz grabbed the card ”really!?” She ran back over to Eda, planting a kiss on her cheek, “Thank you ,Love you.”

“Ugh, don’t get all sappy on me-” she shoved Luz in the direction of the door. “And don’t go crazy with the card, $100 maximum! have fun! If you get into trouble, don’t get caught.”

“I will, and I’ll try!” Her voice faded as she ran out the door and around the corner to the main corridor of the mall. Eda sighed,”I love you too, kiddo.” She turned back to the shelf. “Now where does this piece go?”

Luz Raced down the corridor to the main plaza, searching for the green-haired duo, or possible trio. The many shops of the mall passed by in a blur as she made her way to the center, where a large, ornate fountain stood. Around it was sets of stone benches, one of which was currently occupying a group of young teens. Luz slowed as she approached the bench, letting out the breath she had been holding when she noticed a certain teal-haired girl was missing. Emira looked her way, waving her over.

“Hey guys, sorry I’m late, trouble at the store.” Luz apologized, catching her breath with her hands on her knees.

“Oh, do you need to go back, we can always hang another time.” Em asked, concern growing on her face.

‘’No! No, it’s fine. Just had trouble putting a shelf together is all.” Luz swatted her hand through the air to emphasize her point. 

“If you say so. Luz we would like you to meet the squad.” Ed extended both of his hands to showcase the people next to him. “Of course you already know my sister and Viney.” Both nodded their heads. “But I would like you to meet Jerbo and his trusty companion, Barkus!”

Jerbo tilted his head, mimicking tipping a hat. “Pleasure to meet you, madam.” Barkus let out, well, a bark. “Oh, and Barkus says hi too.” Barkus lifted his paw for Luz to shake. 

“Well aren’t you the smart one, I could never train King to do that.” She knelt to take Barkus’s paw. “Actually, I didn’t train him to do that. He learned on his own.” Luz gave the group a quizzical look.

“Jerbo has a special connection with Barkus. Claims he can understand what he says, that Barkus is intelligent.” Viney whispered to Luz. 

“I heard that! I can understand him, he’s much smarter than the average dog.” Jerbo huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Okay Jerbo, next you’ll tell us he can see the future.” Emira joked. She nudged her brother in the side, giving him a slight nod. Before Jerbo knew what was happening, the twins sandwiched him between them, Ed reaching to give him an attempt of a noogie. 

“Guys, cut it out.” he shoved them off his shoulders and began fixing his hair. Luz and Viney, having watched the chaos unfold before them, turned to one another and broke out into a fit of laughter. “Is it like this every time?” Luz asked between giggles. 

“Most of the time. Sometimes Jerbo gets them back…with my help.” Viney placed a finger gun under her chin, winking at Luz. Ed threw his arms back around Jerbo’s shoulder. “Awe, but he loves us anyway.”

Jerbo groaned, “I question why sometimes.” Emira moved over to Luz and Viney, slapping her hands on their backs. “So, what mischief are we getting into today ladies and gentleman, and canine?”

Luz raised her hands in defense, “hey don’t look at me, I’m new here.” 

“Oh, right, Luz has never been with us on one of our adventures.” Ed appeared behind her suddenly, his hands on her shoulders. 

“Should I be concerned?” Luz shied away from the twins. Emira and Ed both looked at each other with devilish looks in their eyes. “Oh not really, we usually just shop,cause mayhem, you know the usual.” Luz grew even more nervous. “We don’t do anything illegal right?”

“Oh, gods no.” Ed and Em said in unison. “The worst we’ve done is get kicked out of a store for causing a disturbance.” Em assured. 

“I would kill them if they did anything like that.” Viney assured. Luz relaxed a little, “Alright, where to first?” 

***

The mall was a two-story, outdoor mall. It spread in many different directions, with four main walkthroughs that lead to the center where the food court was located as well as the fountain Luz found the teens at earlier. Luz and the band of misfits walked the many rows of stores, window shopping along the way. They would occasionally stop in a store. They were walking down a row of the second story shops when Luz saw the jewelry shop. “Hey guys, I’ll be right back.” She jogged up to the store, finding the necklace her mother wanted to still be on display. She quickly stepped inside, hoping to find an attendant fast and get back to her friends.Unbeknownst to her, the group had followed her in.

The store was small, a lot cozier than a typical jewelry store. A center row of necklaces, displayed in a glass case, each opting for unique designs, rather than expensive jewels. To the sides, more glass cabinets filled with stainless steel rings and the occasional diamond ring. On the walls hung artwork all for sale, ranging from simple landscapes to weird designs of creatures. A Man stood behind the counter, closest to the window. He had a beard and wore a flannel. “Hey there, how can I help you today?”

“I was hoping to buy the necklace in the window display?” He moved over to the window, “Which one was it?” 

“The one of the owl holding the heart.” Luz tried to peer over his shoulder as he retrieved the necklace. “This for anyone in particular?”

“My mom.” Luz answered. She bounced on the ball of her feet, her nervous energy starting to creep its way through. “Well she is one lucky mother.” He smiled trying to ease the tension. “Would you like it engraved on the heart?”

Luz rubbed her neck, “Uh, I’m not sure. Does it cost extra?”

He nodded his head, “Extra $75 bucks, and I’ll throw in a free gift wrap for it.” 

“Uh, let me double check with my mom, my uh, other mom I mean.” Luz winced at her slip up.She grew nervous for his reaction to the mention of two moms. The attendant continued to smile, “No worries, take your time, I'll attend to other customers while you decide.”

Luz gave him a quizzical look. Last time she checked she was the only customer in the store. “Other customers?” He pointed behind Luz. She turned to find Ed, Em, and Viney all standing behind her. 

“Hey, Mr. Hirsch! We were wondering if our friend could bring his dog in here.” Em jutted a finger to the door. He narrowed his eyes. “Is it trained? This is not one of your pranks is it Ms. Blight?” Emira shook her head vigorously, “Of course not Mr. Hirsch. We would never.” 

Mr. Hirsch’s glare gave way to a chuckle. “Alright let them in.” They all nodded and Viney rushed off to grab Jerbo.

Ed turned to Luz, “We didn’t know you wanted to shop here!”

“Yeah, we could have totally helped you out!” Em chimed in.

“Wait, you two know him?” Luz asked, pointing to Mr. Hirsch

“Know me? These two are my best customers!” he laughed, ”How can I help you today?”

“Oh, nothing for us.” the twins said in unison. The door opened again revealing Viney and now Jerbo with Barkus. “But if they want anything, we’ll pay.” they finished. “That goes for you too Luz.” Edric added.

Luz stood in awe, “That’s really not necessary. It’s actually a gift for my mom, it’s their anniversary soon and she wanted to get my other mom something nice.” 

“Speaking of, have you heard from her yet?” Hirsch asked. He asked as more of a reminder for Luz, knowing she had yet to even text her. “Sorry i’ll text her now.” She pulled out her phone, ready to press the message button. She thought better of it and pressed call instead, knowing Eda would be more likely to answer a call than a text. The phone rang three times, before Eda picked up.

“What’s up? Are you hurt? Were you arrested? Send me your location. I'm on my way.”

“Woah, Mami, Calm down.” Luz laughed, “And I thought I was the nervous one.”

“You’re my kid. I worry, that’s what parents do.”

“Well i’m fine. I just have a question.”

“Shoot.”

“Do you want the heart engraved?”

“Oh.” Eda hadn’t given much thought about it. “Yeah, can you have them put our initials in it?”

“Sure, Mami. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Alright, Luz. Bye kiddo.”

“Bye”

Luz hung up the phone and turned to an expecting attendant. “Can you put E plus C in it?”

“Sure thing, It’ll be out in a minute.” Mr. Hirsch went to the back of the store and turned on a machine, the sounds of it warming up filled the room. Luz looked back to the rest of her friends. Viney and Jerbo were looking at the artwork on the walls, while Ed and Em were huddled to the side of the store, whispering to one another. Luz approached them cautiously.

“So how do you two, know Mr. Hirsch?”

The twins stopped their conversation, acknowledging Luz. “He’s a family friend.” Ed said.

“He's a competitor to our parents, so he is a friend to us.” Em added , mischievous smiles on their faces. “Now, how would you like to help us with a little prank?”

Luz paled. “What kind of prank?”

“Don’t worry, nothing too serious. We just want to mess around at the bookstore a little.” Ed eased. “You know, change some of the signs, move some of the books to different places. That kind of stuff.” Emira charmed. “And the more hands the better.” Ed convinced.

“What about Viney and Jerbo?” 

“Bookstore doesn’t allow pets.” Jerbo answered from across the store. “And i’m meeting up with you guys later. I have some… private matters to attend to.” Viney called from one of the glass cases.

Luz shrugged, “then sure, I’m in. It’s just some harmless fun right?”

“That’s the spirit!” Ed smiled. “Your necklace is ready!” Mr. Hirsch called from the register. Luz jogged over, pulling out Eda’s card. “How much do I owe you?”

“With the Engraving, $375.” Luz paid and the group left the store, waving goodbye to Mr. HIrsch as they left. The group of five split up, Luz, Ed, and Em going one way and Viney and Jerbo going the other. They all agreed to meet in the food court at three. The twins led Luz to Barnes and Noble at the end of the mall. They entered the store and got to work. The twins began, by taking the signs from different sections of the store and swapping them with another. Luz set to work taking books and putting them on different shelves, turning some so that they faced pages out, instead of the spines. She continued down the many rows of shelves, eventually finding herself in the kid’s section, where she heard a familiar voice reading out loud. 

“Azura raised her staff high in the air, proclaiming, ‘I claim back these lands from the treacherous claws of darkness’ She thrust her staff back into the ground, the magic spreading through the earth, breathing life back into the wasteland.” The kids around her let out ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’ as she showed them the picture of the scene she described.

“No way.” Luz whispered, she ducked behind a cardboard cut out. _Amity reads to kids! Not only that, she reads Azura to kids!_ Luz tried her best to contain her excitement. She watched as Amity finished the book and the kids thanked her, before running off to their parents. Luz decided to take a chance and approach Amity.

“I didn’t know you read to kids.”Luz said, rather quietly. Despite the shy approach, Amity jumped a foot in the air. She pressed her hand to her chest, trying to catch her breath. “Yeah, well, it’s not something to brag about.” Amity answered, once she regained her cold attitude. She moved past Luz to put the book she was reading back on the shelf.

Luz blew out a breath, trying to come up with something to say to Amity. “Do you like it?”

“What?”

“Do you like reading to them?”

Amity’s cold tone gave way to a smile. “Yeah... It’s nice.” A spark of hope lit in Luz’s chest. _Maybe there’s hope after all._ “I could help out. If you want me to of course. I love the Azura books, I could do the sound effects while you read to the kids.”

Amity’s eyes widened in surprise,”You like Azura too?”

The spark grew, “Of course I do! She’s totally awesome! And who doesn’t want to be a witch with magical powers.” 

Amity giggled, actually giggled at Luz’s antics.” Totally.” She agreed. Amity then grew quiet, the frown forming again. “Uh, thank you for the offer, but I think I can do this on my own.” 

Lez deflated, “Right, sorry, that was stupid of me to ask.” Luz turned to go, “Sorry to bother you.” She felt a small hand grab her wrist.“Wait.” 

Luz stared at the hand wrapped around her wrist, feeling an unexplained heat rise to her cheeks. “It wasn’t stupid. I actually wouldn’t mind it, but-” Amity hesitated, “I can’t let anyone know about this, and the people that do-” another pause. “I don’t think they would like you helping me with this.”

 _Boscha._ Luz thought. “Of course. I uh, promise not to tell anybody about this then.”

Amity let go of Luz’s wrist, opting to hold herself instead. “Thanks. I think I got you wrong before. I don’t think this one interaction is enough to change anything, but… it’s a start.” She gave Luz a half-smile.

That flame in Luz’s chest was lit again. “It’s a start.” she agreed.

“Luz? Luuuz? There you are!” Both of the girls turned to see the twins rounding the corner. “Hey mittens,” Ed greeted. Amity grew red in the face, “I told you not to call me that!” She hissed. The Twins ignored her plea. “We are pretty much done here, we were going to grab food, you can come if you’re done reading.” Ed asked

Luz and Amity turned to each other, both seeming to struggle to find words. “I would love to” she seemed to be talking to Luz more than the twins, “but, I promised Boscha that I would help her pick out a new outfit.” Amity winced, finding it hard to see an expected hurt look on Luz’s face. There was no look to be found,however, “Another time then.” Luz smiled. 

“Another time it is.” Amity echoed. The twins looked at one another, both shrugging at the weird interaction they were witnessing. “Ok then, you coming Luz?” Em encouraged Luz to follow them. “Yeah, be right there.” She jogged after them, giving Amity a wave goodbye.

***

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Turns out the "thing Viney had to deal with was getting Emira something as a thank you for her gift, yesterday. They hugged one another and the group grabbed lunch. Afterwards, they resumed their shopping, continuing to cause a bit of mischief where they went. Luz gave Eda the necklace on the car ride home, as well as her card back. She kept her promise not going over $100 only spending $50 on some new clothes and a new catcher’s mitt. Dinner came and went in a blur, as did the movie they watched afterward, Luz seeming to be too much in her head to notice what it was even about. Now she laid on her bed, wide awake. Thinking about a pair of gold eyes. “A start.” She repeated, like a mantra. “Maybe we can be friends after all.” She continued to think as she drifted off to sleep.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I subvert your expectations, did you think it was going to be like "lost In Language"? Did I get ya? So we finally get to see Jerbo and Barkus! How do you all feel about them? I kinda ship Jerbo and Ed, but I'm not sure if I should include it. Let me know in the comments how you feel about it. As always I am open to constructive criticism, And I will try answer your comments.


	5. Autumn Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz and Amity have two very different days, that end in calamity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a late update, Thanksgiving was crazy. Thank you for reading! please be sure to leave a kudos, and let me know in the comments how you felt about this chapter! Enjoy!

Monday had dragged on painfully slow for Ms. Amity Blight. In english they received a two page paper on the latest chapter of  _ Frankenstein  _ and in chemistry Boscha talked her ear off the entire time during lecture. Now it was lunch and Amity sat, slumped in her chair, barely touching the food in front of her. She stared about the lunchroom,eyes bouncing from one thing to the next, nothing seeming interesting enough for them to find solid purchase on.

That is, until a messy-haired latina walked in, excitedly talking to Willow and Gus about, something, Amity was horrible at lip-reading. Her attitude changed when the girl walked in. Why she couldn’t tell you. The girl was still an enigma to her, but she couldn’t help but smile with Luz as she laughed at something Willow said, or grow anxious as she watched as Luz trudged slowly through the lunch line.The rest of the group at the table sat down, Amity not noticing them.

“Uh hello? Earth to mittens?” Ed reached over and waved his hand in front of Amity’s face.

“Huh? I’m sorry what?” she asked, coming out her daze.

“It’s no use Ed. She’s too busy gushing over her  _ Girlfriend.”  _ Em mocked receiving a slap from her own girlfriend. 

That comment shook Amity a bit more, “What? Em,she’s not my girlfriend.”

“Oh right, I forgot you two haven’t officially used that word yet.”

Amity shook her head, trying to clear the confusion growing inside of it, “Em what are you talking about?”

“Hey guys!”

Amity was interrupted by Luz herself. Amity got whiplash from how fast her head turned to look behind her. There Luz stood a tray in one hand, her bag strap in the other. Willow and Gus stood behind her. She placed her bag under the table and took a seat to the right of Amity. Willow and Gus taking their seats to the left of Amity. 

“What did we miss?” Luz asked.

“Oh nothing, just Amity gushing over you.” Boscha grumbled, scrolling through her instagram feed.

“Is that so?” Luz smirked as she turned to Amity. “Well I do the same, so I guess it’s only fair.” 

Amity stared in shock at what was unfolding in front of her. Luz and her? Together? Something in Amity’s brain clicked. Her and Luz had been dating for a while now, she had patched things up with Willow and she and Boscha seemed to be growing close. It all fell into place like a missing puzzle piece. A big smile crept onto her face. “What can I say, I missed you.” The words flowed out of her mouth. As if someone else had said them for her.

Luz smiled, while the rest of the table groaned.“ Your day going that bad?” Luz asked with a mouthful of food. Amity ignored it as she recounted her day to Luz. “Ugh yes!” she laid her head on Luz’s shoulder. “First we have a chapter report due for english, as if I didn’t have enough to worry about with this week’s game. And Boscha was no help today in chemistry!” She threw hands to the sky.

“Well ,sorry, but that class is so boring!” Boscha defended. Amity gestured towards her.

“You see what I’m working with here?” She asked Luz, receiving the hum of laughter in response. She felt Luz wrap and arm around her waist and the weight of a pair of lips press to the top of her head, as Luz turned to give her a quick peck.

“I can, it sounds like you’ve had a rough day.” Luz cooed. Amity simply nodded her head. She closed her eyes, appreciating the warmth and comfort Luz was giving her. But it’s getting better.” Amity responded.

The group moved on from the love fest happening in front of them, talking about other things, Amity and Luz joining in occasionally. Amity’s head never left Luz’s shoulder and Luz’s arm never left Amity’s waist. All felt right to Amity, except an itch in the back of her head telling her something was wrong.

_

Amity awoke with a start. Her chest heaving, her body sweating, despite the cold temperatures outside. “It was just a dream.” she breathed, “A strange dream.” She tried to wrack through all the different possibilities of why this dream had happened.

_ It’s just because I saw her yesterday, my subconscious just put her there as a placeholder, anyone could have been put there and I would’ve gone along with it.  _ She thought. Of course, it was so obvious, it had to be the reason, because she undeniably, unequivocally did not have feelings for Luz, right?  _ Don’t complicate things for yourself Blight. You can’t have feelings for anyone! You can support and cover for Em and Ed, but you can’t. It’s too dangerous. _

Her bedroom door abruptly opened and Em’s head peeked in, “Hey mittens-” She paused staring at her sister, seeing the sweat drip off her brow and the wild and scared look in her eyes, “Are you okay? You don’t look so hot.” Em asked. 

“Get. out.” Amity screeched.

“Sorry!” Em yelped slamming the door close. Amity wiped the brown hair plastered to her forehead back, placing her other hand over her heart. She tried calming her rapid beating heart. 

“Ed and I are leaving in five. Will you be ready by then?” Em called through the door.

Amity checked the time on her phone. “Shit.” she mumbled. This was the second time Luz had made her late for school.

“Yeah I’ll be down at five.” she answered back. She rushed to get ready, trying to push away the lingering images of her dream. Today was going to be a long day.

***

Luz awoke to the sound of her alarm and the crisp bite of autumn air coming through her bedroom window.It seemed that overnight mother nature had decided it was time for colder climates and colder leaves. She sat up and stretched, feeling her stiff arms and legs loosen and pop as the blood rushed to them. She turned to her right to see King, snuggled up under covers, just his nose sticking out. 

“Good morning king.” She yawned and so did King. The fog of sleep began to wear off as the memories of the weekend slowly became clearer. She smiled at the particular memory that stuck out to her. She shook off the rest of the sleep from her system with a shower as she got ready for the day.As descended the stairs of her home she was greeted by the smell of waffles and the warm smile of her mom.

Luz walked up behind her and gave her a hug and a kiss on her cheek. “Buenos días, Mom.” She hopped up onto the counter. “Smells good.” 

“Well aren’t you in a good mood today. You’re usually dead this early.” she flipped the omelet in the pan. Luz shrugged, “Just in a good mood I guess.”

“Well, maybe you could spread that same morning cheer to your Mami, she is still asleep.” 

“I’m on the case.” She finger gunned her mom and made her way back up the stairs to her parents bedroom. She opened the door with a creek and looked inside the dark room. Over on the king bed that her mother’s shared, laid Eda in a mess of blankets, sheets, and pillows. Eda took up most of the bed with the nest she created, Luz wondered how her birth mom even slept with her. She quietly walked up to Eda, deciding to shake her gent;y awake. Eda gave a loud snore in response. 

“Mami, it's time to get up.” Nothing. “Mami?” she elevated her voice. Still nothing. “EDA!” another set of snores spewed from Eda in place of her waking up. Luz placed a hand on her hips, biting her lip trying to think of a way to wake Eda up. She heard whining by her feet and looked down to find King sitting next to her. An idea popped into her head. She swept King up in her arms and brought his face next to Eda’s. King licked the length of Eda’s face. Eda sputtere awake “KING! I'm gonna Kill- Oh hi Luz!” 

“Good, morning.” Luz chirped. King wriggled out of Luz’s arms and out the door. Eda stretched and checked the time on her alarm clock. “C’mon kid. I had five more minutes before I officially had to be up.” Both parties heard a series of pops and cracks as Eda continued to bend different parts of her body. “Okay and on that disgusting note, Mom wants you down stairs ASAP.”

“Tell her I’ll be down soon,when is Tia supposed to pick you up?” Eda put on a pair of bunny slippers and began to make her way to the ensuite.

“6:30” Luz replied, “Mom made waffles if that helps you hurry up.”

“Kid, you should’ve led with that, I’ll be down faster than a bunny on an energy drink.” Eda quickly closed the bathroom door behind her. Luz chuckled as she maneuvered back down

the stairs. She met her mom and a hungry-looking King in the kitchen. “Mama will be down in five.” she ruffled King’s fur as she moved to the pantry to grab King his breakfast.

Eda was down for breakfast in a record time of 3 minutes and 26 seconds. Lilith arrived early, receiving a text from Camilla inviting her to breakfast as well. The family ate together in peace, well,as peaceful as the Noceda-Clawthorne household could be. Still, it was enough. The family all felt something change in Luz’s demeanor, but when questioned, Luz replied with, “It must be something in the Autumn air.”

***

“LUZ!” Willow and Gus called from the stairs leading up to the school. Luz quickly thanked Lilith for the ride, wished her a good day,and jogged over to her friends. “Hey you two! What’s up?”

“We were just talking about our weekends.” Willow informed her.

“Yeah,my Dad let me help him with one of his reports!” Gus squealed in excitement.

“Awesome, Gus!” Luz held out her hand for a high five, which he gladly accepted. He began rambling on about the story he helped his father with.

“What did you do over the weekend?” Luz whispered to her, keeping her eyes on Gus.

“My Dads took me out to the lake to fish, we had a good time,” Willow responded, mimicking Luz’s talking tactic.

“Cool.” they shared a secret low five, still keeping their eyes on Gus. He continued to ramble on, Luz only understanding bits and pieces of what he was saying. Something about a cat saving tires, Luz really wasn’t sure. Gus finished his story out of breath and a big smile on his face. “So.. Luz… What … did you… Hold on a sec.” He took a deep breath, “Okay, so, what did you do over the weekend?”

Both girls giggled at Gus, “Well I hung out with the twins at the mall. Oh and I bumped into-” Luz hesitated. She remembered her conversation with Amity, or rather the conversation that didn’t happen. Luz promised her she wouldn’t tell anyone and she was determined to keep that promise. “No one, yep I bumped into no one, I don’t even know why I said that because I didn’t run into anyone.” Luz’s cheeks bloomed red, hoping her friends wouldn’t press her on the subject. 

The two gave her a weird look, but shrugged it. They continued to make small talk until the bell rang for the first period. They walked to english together, Luz with a little extra pep in her step.

***

Amity felt like everyone was watching her. Usually they were, being popular meant an entourage of onlookers, but now she felt like they knew her secret. 

Amity knew she was a lesbian, there was no denying that, but she couldn’t hide like her siblings. They didn’t have to worry about their parents like Amity did. By the time they were dating, Amity was already twelve and the dubbed “future” of the family. It wasn’t fair that they could be out at school and not get caught while Amity lost one game at practice and she was berated for being inadequate. She kept up appearances,having the occasional boyfriend, someone her parents would set her up with, none lasting more than a few weeks. 

Now that microscope tightened and it felt like it found something it shouldn’t have, even if there was nothing to hide. Because there was nothing to hide, because she didn’t like Luz, at most she tolerated Luz. Amity was just panicking and she needed to gain back control.

“Amity? You okay?” Boscha put a hand on Amity’s shoulder, causing the girl to recoil. Boscha saw the bewildered look in her eyes. “Right, no touching. I forgot.” She took her seat next to Amity, “Seriously Ams, you don’t look so good, did something happen?” 

“I’m fine.” Amity snapped. “Why does everyone think i’m not okay?”

“Well, for one thing, you just snapped at me for making sure you’re okay.”

Amity huffed and laid her head on the desk.

“And, for another thing, you look tense.” Boscha’s voice softened. She usually didn’t bother amity when she was like this, knowing the girl was a brick wall when it came to feelings. But Amity never looked that bad then, and Bosca was genuinely worried for the girl.

“I’m fine, really, just wish people would quit bothering me.” Amity put up the blockade, and Boscha knew there was no getting over it, so she backed off. Amity would get over herself eventually, and when she did, Boscha would be there to accept the apology for the harshness Amity showed her.

A noisy trio walked into the classroom. Both Amity and Boscha turned to see who it was, only to find the source of Amity’s problems. Luz, spotting her almost immediately, gave Amity a small smile and quick wave. That was enough to have Amity turn beet red and give a wave back before she turned away. Boscha caught on to Amity’s embarrassment and shot a glare at Luz.

“Is Noceda giving you shit? Is that why you’re so upset?” Bosca angrily whispered to Boscha.

Amity didn’t know how to react. Yes, Luz was the cause of her behavior, but not in the way Boscha thought. She had to come up with something.

“What? No. Boscha just drop it, Noceda and I don’t interact with each other.” She felt the heat rise to her cheeks as she lied to her friend, but she couldn’t let her know the truth.

“Fine.” Bosca muttered, dropping the subject.  _ If she doesn’t want my help, fine, I won’t help her. She can figure this out for herself. _

***

Both girls went about their days, Luz with a little more hope in the world, and Amity a little more paranoid. Now it was practice and Amity was ready to take her mind off the panic for today. She could focus on drills instead of potential judgement she felt at every corner. 

Lilith blew her whistle to have everyone gather around her. “Alright girls, our first game is this friday against Tri-tech. They've really stepped up their game this year, so I expect us all In our best shape to beat them. We will be doing a series of drills today. Amity and Luz I want you two to focus on pitching today, I want all of them down by the end of practice.”

_ Shit. _ Amity thought. The girls broke out into their respective groups. Amity and Luz taking their positions at the plate and mound. Amity picked up the ball at the mound.

“Mity, start off slow, take your time to warm-up your arm.” Luz called to her.

Amity blushed.  _ That doesn’t mean anything. _ She told herself. She shook her head, clearing her intrusive thoughts, readying herself for the first pitch. 

She wound up and released, feeling the tension leave her arm as the ball whizzed through the air and hit Luz’s glove with a resounding thud. 

“Damn Amity, you throw hard.” Luz took her hand out the mitt to shake it.

“Sorry,” Amity called, but she felt such a relief from throwing that ball, being able to put all her force, her anger behind it. It felt amazing, and she wanted it to do it again. 

Luz tossed the ball back to Amity, and Amity pitched it back even faster and harder than before, feeling that wave of relief from getting that anger out. 

“Alright let’s try some signs,” Luz said after some pitches. Amity nodded her head, barely registering what Luz had said. Luz tossed the ball back to her and barely put the sign out before Amity threw the ball with a resounding force.

“Woah, nice throw.” Luz commented. Amity didn’t respond, too far lost in her own head.

They continued the sign, each pitch getting faster, and more off target. Amity continued to put anger behind each one. Her thoughts blurred together, so did her vision, just throwing pitch after pitch.

“Hey Amity I think we should-”  **Thwack.**

Amity’s vision cleared, to see Luz on her back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Casually pops in* Hey, how y'all doing? I decided to give you a little Lumity, as a treat. I giveth the lumity and I taketh away. I really hope you all enjoyed that chapter. Let me know in the comments how you felt! I'm again sorry about the late update. I promise I will be better about posting every Friday. Please leave a Kudos, and as always, I am open to constructive criticism. Thank you for reading! See you next week!


	6. Mending Bridges

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Luz's injury leads to deeper conversations, some people deal with things better than others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! Thank you in advance for reading this chapter! This one does have a few trigger warnings. There are mentions of blood and gore because of Luz's broken nose. And there is implied mention of abuse, nothing specific, but you know, the blights suck. If you are uncomfortable with any of that there will be a summary at the end of the chapter.

//Trigger Warning: Mentions of Blood/Gore and Applied Abuse\\\

“Oh my- shit, Luz!” Amity raced over to home plate to assess what she had done. She knelt down next to Luz to see her face covered in dirt, blood pouring from her nose, eyes rolled deep into the back of her head.

“Luz!? Luz!?” Amity’s hands hovered over Luz, unsure of what she should do. “Please don’t be dead!”

Luz groaned, coughing up a little bit of blood that trickled into her mouth. Her eyes fluttered open to reveal Amity hovering over her, a halo around her face from the field lights.

“¿Eres mi ángel de la guarda?” Luz blinked a few more times,clearing the halo. Amity let out a sigh of relief, Luz was at least conscious. 

“I’m so sorry! Are you okay? What am I saying, of course you’re not okay!”

By now, the rest of the team had caught on that something was wrong. A small crowd was forming around them. Amity was too concerned with Luz to notice.

“How do I look?” Luz laughed in her usual way, which quickly turned into a cough. “Ow. That hurts, laughing hurts,” she moaned. 

“I’m so sorry, Luz. I didn’t mean to-”

“What’s going on here?” Lilith pushed through the crowd of girls. She gasped at the sight of her niece covered in her own blood. “Ms. Blight, What happened?!” Lilith rushed to the other side of Luz, looking over her injury.

“I-I don’t know. I was just throwing the ball and I guess I got carried away and-”

“It’s my fault tía. I didn’t have my mask on.” Luz interrupted. This caught Amity off guard for two reasons. One, Luz was covering for her  _ again.  _ Two, Amity didn’t know a lot of spanish, but she did know that tía meant aunt… probably. She didn’t get to question the thought any further, since Lilith’s stream of reprimands had begun. 

“Luz, how many times have I told you to keep your mask on, even during practice. And Ms. Blight, please be more careful, if Ms. Noceda doesn’t have her mask on, don’t throw the ball!”

Amity nodded her head, finding it hard to form the proper words with the guilt forming a knot in her throat, while Luz mumbled her own apology.

Lilith huffed, “No use apologizing now. I’m going to have to take Luz to the nurse. Pray to god she’s still here.” Lilith took Luz’s arm and draped it across her shoulders.

“I’ll take her.” Amity blurted out. “It’s my fault she’s hurt in the first place, and there’s no reason the girls should miss out on a bit of their practice for our mistake.” Amity reasoned, wringing her hands.

Lilith looked to Luz, then to Amity, then back at Luz. Luz was looking worse for wear, but she looked up, giving her aunt a nod of agreement.

“Fine. Ms. Blight please assist Luz to the infirmary. If the nurse is not there, come straight back here, so I can take her to the nearest urgent care. Do I make myself clear?”

Amity nodded again and Lilith helped Luz onto Amity’s shoulder. “Try to keep your head back.” Amity mumbled to Luz. She received a grunt in return. Together, the two hobbled off the field, Lilith watching them go. _ Her parents are going to kill me.  _ Lilith watched them until they reached the back of the main building. She turned back to the rest of the team. “Well what are we standing around for? Back to drills.”

***

Thankfully, Luz and Amity caught the nurse just before she left. Now Amity sat in a chair next to the examining table Luz sat on, the nurse poking and prodding at her nose.

“Well, it’s broken.” She said, “Not too bad, I can make a splint for now, but I recommend going to the doctor’s and getting it properly looked at. Keep that ice I gave you on your nose until I get back. I have to go get the materials from the storage room.” The nurse walked off, leaving the pair alone in a deafening silence.

“You think I can play this friday?” Luz asked, trying to break the tension.

Amity shrugged, not even looking at Luz, the knot in her throat had migrated to her stomach. 

“I think I can.” Luz continued, leaning back on one hand holding the ice with the other. “If I wear my mask that is.” Another bout of silence passed between them. “You do throw pretty hard, my face is proof of that I guess.” Luz let out a chuckle. “Ow, ow, ow. Still hurts. Bad Luz, no laughing.” She gripped the ice a little tighter.

“How?” Amity’s voice was barely above a whisper, she wasn’t sure if Luz even heard her.

Luz turned to Amity. “How what?”

“How can you be so positive about everything? How can you be so nice to me even after everything I put you through?” Amity finally looked up to Luz. Tears were threatening to spill from Amity’s eyes. “I’ve been nothing, but mean,and harsh, and callous to you. I hit you in the face with a baseball! And yet, you don’t hate me? You cover for me and keep my secrets and for what? Why?” A few tears spilled over. 

Luz sighed, “Amity, do you know what my name means?”

Amity sniffled, “No?”

“It means light in spanish, literally. It’s like my mom knew that I was destined to be this big ball of energy.”

“Oh.” She let out another sniffle.

“Look, my life isn’t … the best. Don’t get me wrong, I have great parents and a loving family, but we definitely have our share of troubles. I also wasn’t the most popular person at my old school. I’ve had to deal with the bullies, the name-calling, all of it. … I found that the best way to deal with everything was with kindness, by being the light in the room. So that’s why I stay positive, because if I don’t, then who will?” Luz gave Amity a smile. 

She smiled back. Though it was a bit smaller. “If it helps, my life isn’t so perfect either.”

“Really? Trouble in paradise?” Luz smirked, trying to show that she was kidding. Still, it struck a chord with Amity. She put up her walls again, she hadn’t noticed the knot’s departure but it returned almost immediately. She let out a bittersweet laugh.

“Let’s just say my parents would be proud of me for taking you out of the game, so you couldn’t threaten my position. And they would be disappointed that I ‘fraternized with the competition’.” Amity stared at the floor, finding the ground more interesting than the shocked look Luz was giving her.

Well as shocked as it could be with as little movement as possible. “They do realize we’re on the same team, right?”

“They don’t see it that way.” 

“Well then, I guess we both have baggage then. We're not so different after all.” Luz heard a chuckle come from Amity.

“I guess not, but there is one difference.” Amity looked to Luz.

“What’s that?” Luz asked.

“At least I know how to duck when a ball is flying towards me.” Amity gave Luz a cheeky grin.

Luz gasped, “ow,” she flinched in pain. “When will I learn?”

“Something tells me it won’t be anytime soon.” 

Luz‘s smile grew, and her stomach did a little flip when she heard Amity laugh. Amity’s smile on her face now bigger than before. After the laughter died,They sat there, just staring at each other, an unknown feeling hung in the air between them.

“Sorry that took so long darling, couldn’t reach the medical tape.” Both girls jumped in surprise as the nurse walked back into the room. The nurse seemed to miss or didn’t care about the two teenagers' obvious embarrassment. She stood in front of Luz, pulling strips of medical tape to put on Luz’s face. “Alright, Ms. Noceda I’m going to have you tilt your head back for me.” __

After a few bandages and a string of spanish curses from Luz, Amity and Luz were walking back to the locker room to grab their gear and head home for the evening. The tension seemed to ease between the two, as they walked down the hall talking to one another, sharing the occasional laugh.

“So... I have a question.” Amity began, after a fit of laughter died between the girls.

“Ask away.” Luz encouraged.

“I heard you call coach Lilith, ‘tía’ earlier”

“Ah hah,” Luz hung her head and scratched the back of her head with her thumb, “You heard that huh?” 

Amity nodded her head.

“Then I guess we both know a secret about each other.” She stopped in the hallway, Amity following suit. “Look, just like your reading thing, I can’t let anyone know about this, okay? I don’t want anyone thinking I got on the team because I’m the coach's niece, because I didn’t. I’m on this team because of my skill, and skill alone. Can I trust you with this?” Luz stuck out her hand for a handshake, hoping Amity would take it.

She hesitated, lost in that warm, irreplaceable smile. “You can count on me.” Amity beamed.

***

Lilith was right about one thing, Eda was going to kill her. When Eda got a call from her sister that her daughter was in the ER, her stomach dropped. She raced over as fast as she could and met them in the lobby of the hospital. That fear quickly turned to anger, when she saw that Luz only had a busted nose, and not some life ending injury.

“What the hell happened Lilith!?” Eda drew a series of onlookers from her outburst towards her sister. “I trust you with my kid for eight hours, and you broke her!?”

Luz and Lilith flinched at Eda’s wraith. “Mami, it’s not her-”

“I’ll get to you in a minute!” Eda pointed an accusatory finger at Luz, “You’re in just as much trouble as she is!”

“Edalyn, don’t you think you’re being a bit over dramatic?” Lilith tested, bracing for the full explosion that was the Eda bomb. 

“Over dramatic? OVER DRAMATIC!? I thought Luz was dying from the phone call I got from you! But no, I’m the over dramatic one! Okay Lily, answer me this, why did you bring her to the ER WHERE HER MOTHER WORKS!? Now we’re both going to get it!”

Lilith shrank at the outburst, “Well,Nurse Lanza said we should get it properly looked at, and this one is closest to the school, so the logical solution was to come here.”

“You do realize Luz’s mom, my wife, is a nurse right? Did it ever occur to you that, maybe she could check it out at home!? Any minute now Camilla is going to bust through those doors and wonder why her daughter’s name is in the system.”

As if on cue, Camila came through the entry doors to the rest of the hospital, looking for Luz. It would have been almost comedic at how well Eda knew her, if it weren’t for the ferocious motherly instinct that was about to be unleashed upon the Clawthorne sisters. Camilla came storming up to the siblings, a look of worry mixed with her murder filled eyes. “Where is she?”

Lilith tried to placate her, “Now before you freak out-”

“Lilith Clawthorne, where. Is. my. Daughter.”

“I’m right here, Mama.” Camila looked past Lily to see Luz sitting in a chair, a poorly constructed splint on her nose. 

“Mija what happened?” Camila knelt down in front of Luz, carefully taking off the splint to reveal her bruised nose. 

Luz smiled sheepishly, “I wasn’t wearing my mask and I might have gotten hit with a baseball… just a little bit.”

¿¡En serio!? ¡Cuántas veces tu Mami y yo te hemos dicho que te pongas tu máscara! Te juro que nunca aprenderás.” She pulled Luz to a standing position. “Come on, I’m setting you up with an x-ray.” She dragged Luz deeper into the hospital, stopping briefly to stare down. “I’ll be back to find out what happened, get your story straight.”

***

After further and careful examination, it was determined that Luz’s nose was not broken, just dislocated and badly bruised. Camilla reset it properly and put a butterfly bandage over a small cut that formed on the bridge of her nose. The drive home was filled with an argument that was mostly in spanish, Lilith following close behind. They grabbed a quick dinner for Luz from some greasy fast food joint. 

"Kiddo, why don't you go get ready for bed. Us grown-ups have to talk for a bit" Eda patted Luz's head and gently ushered her towards the stairs. Luz nodded, yawning as she trekked up the stairs to her room. Eda waited until she heard the door to Luz's room click shut before she turned back to her sister and wife.

"What happened?" Camila snapped after Eda gave the all clear.

“I was running drills with the girls, and I had set Luz and Ms. Blight up to practice all the pitching signs, suddenly the girls are swarming around someone. Come to find Luz passed out on the ground, Ms. Blight trying to wake her up.” 

“You weren’t paying attention?!” Eda had to hold an advancing Camila back.

“I didn’t believe I needed to! She is fourteen Camila, and I can't be everywhere at once.” Lilith took a few steps back holding her hands up in a defensive position.

“I know how old my daughter is Lilith! Just like you should know that  _ Ms. Blight  _ seems to have a vendetta against Luz!”

Lilith scoffed, “Amity would never do anything to purposefully harm Luz, and to insinuate anything like that is simply-”

“You used to do that to her and Eda! How can I trust anything you say!” The tears that had built up in Camila’s eyes, finally spilled over as she collapsed into Eda’s arms. Lilith hugged herself, uncomfortable with the mention of her past being brought up. The room grew silent, the occasional sob from Camila. Eventually she collected herself, though she still leaned heavily into Eda’s arms.

“My daughter was hurt today, and it just, all those memories came flooding back and I-” she choked on sob, “and I can’t do that again,  _ we  _ can’t do that again. We gave you a second chance and I am hesitant to believe that it was the right choice-”

“I am thankful for that chance everyday. I promise you what happened today was just an accident, and it won’t happen again. Please believe me-”

Camila held up a finger. “ I wasn’t finished. I am hesitant, but I am not an idiot. I’ve seen the way Luz has grown over this past month. It’s been forever since I’ve seen our daughter this happy and I am not about to take that away from her.”

“Thank you. I promise I’ll keep a closer eye on her.” Lilith visibly relaxed at Camila’s response to this mess of a day.

“You are on thin ice Lilith. Just know that.” Camila looked up to her loving wife, exhaustion clear on her face. “Well this has been a day.”

Eda nodded, “It sure has.”

“I’m going to bed.” Camila kissed the tip of Eda’s nose and began to make her way upstairs.

Eda turned back to her sister. “Look, Lily, it’s been a long day and Camila’s just stressed. Don’t take everything she said to heart, you and I both know it was an accident, she just needs time to see that.”

Lilith nodded her head.

“Well, I think we should all go to bed. Goodnight Lily, I trust you can see yourself out.” Eda went to follow her wife upstairs.

“Edalyn.”

Eda stopped at the bottom of the stairs. “Yeah.”

“You know I’m sorry about what happened when we were younger, right?”

Eda gave her sister a warm smile. “I know.” She began climbing the stairs again. Goodnight Lily.”

“Goodnight Eda.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who could not read this chapter here is the summary: Luz and Amity go to the nurses office to get her nose looked at. While the nurse is getting supplies to fix Luz's nose, Amity and her have a heart to heart about their family lives without going into too much detail. Amity discovers that Lilith is Luz's aunt and promises to keep it a secret. Later Lilith takes Luz to the ER to get her nose properly looked at, calling Eda, and accidently taking Luz to the same ER Camila works at. After both parents have a scare about Luz's health, Camila has a flashback to a time where Lilith wasn't so nice to the family.
> 
> So the plot thickens! How do you all feel about this chapter? Did you like it? Be sure to leave a comment and a like if you did! I was thinking about drawing some maps for the school and house and things like that so you have a better visual of the places I'm talking about? Would you all like that? Anyways thank you again for reading! Again I post Friday updates as best I can!


	7. Split desicions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Amity goes missing, Luz find her in an unlikely place. But when she does find her, it seems that Amity might need a friendly face to confide in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey All! I am SO sorry about such a late update. Finals killed me. But I am back and I promise I'll be posting Friday as well as today, so kind of like a two chapter week! I've started to work on the maps for Eda's shop and the school, but I still don't know exactly when I'll put those on here. Also 1,000 READERS! That's insane! Thank you all for reading and your support with this, I never thought I would get that many readers, so thank you! that's the best early Christmas present I could ask for! I hope you enjoy this chapter, please leave a like and a comment if you do!

Amity managed to get through the evening unscathed. Her maid didn’t notice the small bit of blood on her jersey when she requested it for the laundry, or at least she didn’t snitch on Amity like last time. They ate dinner in relative silence, Amity had gotten an A+ on her most recent math test and that seemed to satisfy her parents enough not to bother her the rest of the night. No one even noticed when she slipped upstairs to her room instead of watching whatever show her parents put on for “family bonding”. Now she laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Her mind constantly drifted from one thing to another, until her phone buzzed on the nightstand next to her.

~3 new messages~

8:53pm

Boscha

_Nice job on taking out Luzer, i thought u said not to mess w her??? Wtf on going w/ her to the nurse tho, bitch should have walked alone._

9:02pm

Viney

_Wtf Amity?just cuz your parents want you to be star plyer doesn't mean u have to take out Luz!_

Now

Unknown Number

_Hey, its Luz, Em gave me ur # :P. Just wanted to let you know I got home safe and bad news Blight. you didnt damage it as bad as we thought, you just dislocated it. Sux to suck i’ll be in fridays game._

Amity was still trying to register the fact that Luz had her number when her phone buzzed in her hand again.

~New Message~

Unknown Number

_That was a joke btw. I dont think you meant to pummel my face on purpose… or did you???_

Another buzz.

Unknown Number

_Again, joking. Im gunna shut up now b4 I make things wrse._

A smile rose on amity’s face, her fingers typing a response before the logical side of her brain could stop her.

Me

_Damn. Guess I have to go with plan b, random question how allergic to bees r u? ;)_

Luz was quick to respond.

Unknown Number

_I’m not. Sorry to disappoint. Guess ur stuck w/ me ;D_

A giggled passed by Amity’s lips. Her fingers typing at the speed of light.

Me

_. . .For now. Glad to see I didnt damage ur sense of humor._

Amity started to ask how it went with her parents, but second guessed herself and deleted it. Opting to keep it light. She checked the time on her phone noticing it was already 11pm.

Me

_Well nose girl. Its late and we have school 2 morrow so Im gunna go to sleep._

_Unknown Number_

_Nose girl? Thats the best you could come up w/, also lame, real gamers stay up till 3._

“Gamer?” Amity muttered to herself, she would have to ask Ed about that later, she was never really up to date on all the memes. Ed and Em would tease her about it constantly, calling her a ‘boomer’ whatever that meant. Nevertheless, Amity tried to respond the best she could.

Me

_It was the first thing that came to mind and this gamer is going to bed. G'night Luz._

Unknown Number

_Night Amity._

Amity clicked on Luz’s number and created a new contact for her. She typed in Luz’s name and then hesitated. Her thumb hovered over the emojis, she usually put them after her contacts, it was her own tiny version of fun and freedom within the strict life she was supposed to live. But she didn’t know what to do for Luz. She didn't know her that well. She scrolled down the list eventually landing on the baseball.

“That will work for now.” She set all her alarms for tomorrow, she had added a couple after the two times she woke up late and set her phone on her nightstand. She laid back down on her bed, different thoughts now running through her mind, too wired to go to sleep. After a few more minutes of laying in her bed, she sat up deciding she wasn’t going to bed anytime soon. Her hand twitched to grab her phone and continue texting Luz, a subconscious thought that was gone before she had a real chance to contemplate it. She decided instead to grab a glass of water from the kitchen.

Quiet as a mouse, Amity crept out of her room and down the hall. She made it as far as Emira’s room when she noticed light shining through the crack around the door. Luz’s text flashed through her mind. _Em gave her my number._ She redirected to stand in front of Em’s door. From within she could hear music faintly playing from within. She gently rapped her knuckles against the door.

“Come in.”

Amity opened the door and saw Emira laying on her bed, messing with her pone, a radio playing music across the room on her desk. Em peered over her phone.”Oh. Hey."

“Weren’t you worried that I was mom and dad?”

“Nah. The only people up this late are you, me, and Ed.”

“Oh.” Amity lent against the doorframe, rubbing her arm.

“How can I help you?”

“So you gave Luz my number?”

“Awe, has mittens been texting her little girlfriend?” Em teased.

“Shut up. I should be murdering you for giving out my information!”

Amity grew quiet. She shuffled her foot on the carpet and placed her hands on the small of her back, suddenly embarrassed about her statement.

“But instead. I, uh, wanted to thank you, for giving Luz my number.” She gestured to the air between them, “It was- I just -”

Em smirked, “Use your words Mittens.”

“I’m trying, this is not exactly easy for me, Em.” She huffed, taking a few deep breaths. “I’m sorry, I just, I was worried about her, I don’t know why, but I was. And I didn’t know if I should have reached out or not. So thank you, for bridging that gap.” Amity had turned a full bright as she suddenly found the floor interesting.

“Okay as much as I enjoy all of this, I’ll save you this embarrassment and just say you’re welcome.”

“Thanks. Hey I’m heading to the kitchen do you want anything?” Amity jutted her thumb behind her.

“I’m good.”

“Okay, good night.” Amity closed the door behind her as she left Emira’s room. A yawn left her mouth, maybe she was tired after all. She went back to her bedroom, forgetting about the glass of water, and went to bed.

***

The next morning was crazy. As Amity stepped through the main doors to the she was immediately bombarded by Boscha.

“Didn’t you get my text last night?”

“Wow, hello to you too, Boscha.”

“Well did you?” Boscha glued herself to Amity as she walked through the halls.

“Yes.”They reached Amity’s locker and she began putting in the combination.

“So why didn’t you answer?”

“I was. . .” How could she cover this up, she did still have a reputation to keep up, “tired. I’m not up at all hours like my siblings.” She began placing books in her locker, trying her best to show Boscha she was not interested in this conversation.

Boscha didn’t get the hint.

“Well, what gives. You told me to back off and here you go breaking her nose.”

“It wasn’t broken,” she slammed her locker shut, “just dislocated.” She made it a few steps before she froze in place, her eyes widening in realization. She heard Boscha scoff.

“And how exactly do you know that? When she came into the locker room last night , she told coach it was broken.”

She winced when Boscha gasped. “Does she have your number!?’

Amity spun on her heels.”So what if she does?”

“Wait.” Boscha faced scrunched up in disgust, she thrust an accusatory finger at Amity. “You were talking to her last night, weren’t you?!”

The words died in her throat. She tried to come up with a lie, some sort of excuse, anything to tell Boscha she was wrong. . . But she came up with nothing.

“I don’t believe this! What happened to you? You’ve got a soft spot for this loser.”

“N-n-no I don’t, I don’t-” Amity stuttered, folding in on herself.

“What happened to you, Amity? I remember when you didn't take shit from anyone. Now you're submitting to this nobody chick from nowhere that probably got into this school on one of those academic scholarships like four eyed Willow and the small kid.-”

“Shut up.” Amity muttered, too quiet for Boscha to hear.

“And for what? We should be showing them who’s in charge.”

“Shut up, Boscha!” 

Boscha’s mouth hung open. She stood in complete shock, as Amity took a grounding breath.

“Maybe I don’t want to be the bully. I’m not like you, I don’t take pleasure in making people miserable! Why do you have to be such a stuck up bitch all the time.” Amity gasped and covered her mouth. She knew she crossed the line. “Boscha wait-”

Boscha held up a hand to silence her. “Talk to me when you stop living your fantasy and want to join us in the real world.” Boscha stormed off, checking Amity in the shoulder as she did.

Amity watched her go. She now noticed the several onlookers they gained during their argument. “What are you looking at?” Amity snapped. They all snapped back to what they were previously doing.

“Mom is going to kill me.”

***

Word traveled fast and by lunch everyone was talking about the split between Amity and Boscha. Luz, Willow, and Gus included.

“She deserves it. After what she did to your face.” Willow was a bit too happy to hear about Amity’s misfortune than her friends.

“I already told you, that was an accident.” Luz took a bite of her sandwich, wincing in pain slightly from her nose.

“That’s what you claim, but you don’t know Amity like I know her, she’ll do anything to get ahead, even if it means hurting someone." Willow snarled.

“I don’t think she’s like that anymore, Willow. She seemed genuinely sorry about all of it.” Luz tried to reason with Willow, but the look in Willow’s eyes told her that it was a lost cause.

“How is your nose by the way?” Gus was reaching out to poke Luz’s nose, Luz swatted his hand away “It’s fine, coach Lilith said I could even play Friday.”

That seemed to change Willow’s sour demeanor, “really?! That’s great, Luz!”

Someone cleared their throat behind Willow. The group looked over to see the Blight twins standing awkwardly.

“Hey guy and gal, what’s up?” Luz chirped

“Have any of you seen Amity?” Ed asked.

“She didn’t show up for lunch, and no one seems to have seen her.” Em added.

“Amity’s missing?” Luz quirked an eyebrow, concern etching her face.

“No, we haven’t seen her.” Willow dismissed, clearly uninterested. Luz whacked her in the arm. “Ow, what was that for, we haven’t!”

“I’ll help you look for her.” Luz stood from her seat and began to grab her things. 

“Luz what are you doing ?”

“Look, Amity may not be our friend, but the twins are. And if they’re worried about their sister then I’m going to help them find her.”

“But Luz-”

“No buts Willow, I’m going to help them find her.”

_

Time was dwindling down before it was time for their next period and the twins and Luz still couldn’t find Amity. The three of them stood in the main hallway to the school, trying to deduce where Amity could be.

“I don’t get it. We’ve checked the chem lab, the baseball field, the school library, all the girl’s bathrooms, it’s like mittens disappeared off the face of the earth.” Even in a panic Ed couldn’t help, but use Amity’s nickname.

“I checked the locker room, and the gym.” Luz added, “She wasn’t there either.”

“Well, our best bet is to go back and double check everywhere we looked.” Em was biting the nail of her thumb, a nervous tick she picked up over the years.

“Okay let’s switch places, maybe a different pair of eyes will find her better.” Luz concluded, “You two check the gym, locker room, and bathrooms. I’ll check the field, library, and chem lab.”

The three set off in different directions. A growing pit settled in Luz’s stomach. She may not know Amity that well, but she knows from first-hand experience the feeling of needing to hide when it feels like the world is collapsing around you. She had wished all those times that she had someone to talk to, she just hoped that Amity felt the same way.

After searching the baseball field and chemistry lab with no luck, Luz was now searching the rows and rows of books in the library.

“Amity,” She whisper-shouted, “Amity!” She called a little louder, receiving a shush from the school librarian.

“Sorry”

The librarian signed and returned to his reading. Another librarian approached Luz, “Are you looking for Ms. Blight?” 

Luz nodded her head.

“Follow me.”

He guided her to the back of the library to a small door that looked like a janitor’s closet. He opened the door to reveal a small room with its own set of shelves of books, a few bean bags strewn about, and a desk with a green-haired girl sitting at it.

“Amity!” Luz rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Amity as she turned to see who called her name.

“You have a visitor.” The man said.

“Thanks Gary I can see that.”Amity replied. 

“We’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Luz berated.

“Well, you didn’t look very hard, I’ve been here the whole time.”

Gary shut the door behind him, leaving the two girls alone. Luz pulled away from Amity, realizing that Amity may not have wanted a hug. She took a few paces back, putting a good distance between them.

“Are you okay? I heard about what happened with Boscha.”

Amity surprisingly missed the warmth of Luz’s hug. She usually didn’t like physical contact, but with Luz it was different, as it was with most things when it came to Luz. Amity pushed away that thought though, reminding herself once again that these feelings were a passing moment, and could never amount to anything.

“I’m fine, Luz. We just had a little disagreement, I’ll apologize to her later.”

“You’re so fine that you had to hide in . . . what is this place anyways?”

“It used to be the old break room, but they moved it to the main office in the 90’s. So now Gary lets me use it as a personnel study room.”

“They just let you use this?”

Amity nodded her head.

“That’s so cool!” Luz gushed, “ Wait, no stay focused Luz.” She cleared her throat and leveled her gaze with Amity’s. “Why are you hiding.”

“You said so yourself. Everyone’s heard about it, I just didn’t need the attention right now.”

Amity’s phone buzzed on the desk.

“That’s probably Ed and Em, they were pretty worried about you.”

Amity pushed the phone further back on the desk, electing to ignore it.

“I know, I got their messages, that’s not them.” Amity’s tone was more solemn now as her gaze went to the bookshelf to the right of her.

“Who is it then?”

“My mother.”

“Oh,what does she want.” Luz’ curiosity peaked as she moved closer to Amity.

“If i’m lucky, she’s telling me I forgot my lunch again, but with How today’s been going. . .” tears pricked her eyes. “She’s already found out about me and Boscha,” she coughed, trying to hold back her tears, “and she’s probably telling me that I need to fix it before I mess everything up like I always do.”

“Oh Amity.” Luz crushed Amity in another hug. She felt her shoulder grow wet as Amity’s flood gates broke and she openly sobbed into Luz’s shoulder. Luz cooed into her ear. 

“Hey,hey, look at me.”

Amity looked up to her, Sniffling a bit. “Yeah?”

“You do not mess everything up, okay?”

Amity nodded her head numbly.

“Why is your friendship with Boscha so important to your mother?” Luz sat down in the bean bag closest to the desk, intent on listening to Amity. Amity, not quite ready to let Luz go, followed her to the floor, sharing the bean bag with her.

“Her family is a main investor in a deal, if-if Boscha and I don’t get along, her parents could pull out of the deal, causing us to lose all that money an- and-”

“Amity. You shouldn’t have to worry about all of that. You should be friends with people that you like, not because of your parents.”

“But I have to, if I cause them to lose that deal, then…” Amity shuddered at the thoughts that suddenly plagued her mind.

“Then what, Amity is everything okay?”

Amity shook her head, dismissing the memories, “It just won’t end well. It's better if I just apologized to Boscha.”

Luz wanted to press her on what that meant, but the look of dread on Amity’s face stopped here. Instead she decided to try and get Amity’s mind off of things.

“So are you excited about friday’s game?’

Amity wiped some of her tears onto her shirt, “What?”

“Friday’s game?”

“Oh...I guess.” she shrugged her shoulders, “Are you?”

“I’m a little nervous, it’s my first game with the new team, and having a bruised nose doesn’t help.”

“Oh. Right how is that by the way?” Amity eyes fixated on the purple mess that was Luz’s nose. She gently reached out and touched the bridge, where a new band aid had been placed.

Luz hissed in pain. “Ow!” 

“Sorry!”

“What is with people and touching my nose? What makes it so touchable?”

Amity seemed to lighten a bit, a small smile forming on her lips, “I mean, it kind of looks like a giant button.”

“So you press it!? Remind me to never leave you alone with a button in a life of death situation.”

The sound of laughter filled the air and Luz visibly relaxed, glad she could make Amity happy. Even after her laughter died out, Amity’s smile never left her face.

“Thank you, Luz. It has been an absolute shit of a day, but it was nice to have someone to talk to.”

“Well you can talk to me anytime.Now why don’t you get you some lunch before the bell rings.” Luz stood up and extended a hand to Amity.

“Get me lunch?” Amity accepted the hand and Luz hoisted her up to stand.”

“Yeah, didn’t you say you forgot your lunch?”

“I did.”

“Well I’m not gonna let you go hungry, come on.” Luz dragged Amity out of her makeshift study, leaving behind Amity’s still buzzing phone.

***

Before practice, Amity apologized to Boscha, saying that the stress of the upcoming game got to her and that, no, there was nothing between her and Luz. Boscha forgave her, but she couldn’t help, but notice the longing stare Amity gave Luz during warm-ups , or the small smiles they gave each other, while pitching.

-

Odalia had heard about the tiff between the two girls, but she saw that they were talking when she picked Amity up after practice, so she decided not to reprimand her on the matter. Instead she gave Amity a brief reminder to answer her phone when she called, because it was not proper manners.

It had seemed that Amity’s luck had changed all because of one girl.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed that chapter! the girls seemed to be getting along better now, but what does that say for the friends they currently have? (I know, but I want to know what you think ;P) Please leave a like and a comment and I will try to reply. I am always open to constructive criticism. I hope you all are ready for this Friday's chapter.


	8. Game Day Jitters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the nerves of tonights game build, a few mishaps occur.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'm going to change the update days to every Saturday in hopes I can actually get the chapters out on time, because apparently trying to do schoolwork while finishing and proof reading a chapter is difficult, who knew? Anyways I hope you like this chapter, please be sure to leave a kudos, and enjoy!

The rest of the week passed by in a blur for the girls. Amity spent the rest of the week proving to Boscha that she was the same Amity she knew, even if that wasn’t entirely true. Luz spent the rest of the week stressing over Friday's game and trying to convince Willow that Amity wasn't that bad.

"It's not gonna happen." Willow slammed her locker shut and began to walk to her algebra class, Luz was quick on her tail.

"Oh, come on Willow! I really think she's changed." Luz had now caught up with her and was walking backwards so she could face Willow.

"That doesn't mean I should forgive her for what she did."

"But you two are on the same team."

"Just because we're on the same team, doesn't mean we have to be friends, I'm not going to purposefully go out of my way to hang out with her." They stopped in front of the classroom.

"Can you try, for me?" Luz was giving Willow the biggest puppy eyes she could muster. Willow was desperately trying not to give in.

"Please." Luz dragged out, getting on her knees clasping her hands out in front of her.

Willow let out an exasperated sigh. Her eyes shot up to the ceiling and she shook her head slightly. "You can invite her to pizza after."

Luz let out and excited gasped. Willow cut her off before she got her hopes up to high.

"I don't promise anything! But, I'll give her a second chance."

Luz squealed in excitement and crushed Willow in a bone bruising hug. "Thank you Willow! You're the best!"The sound of the warning bell ended the hug as Luz dashed off to make it to her class on time.

Willow heard Luz shout, “You won’t regret this!”

“This girl will be the death of me.” Willow muttered, and she turned to enter her class.

***

Amity was dutifully taking notes in her physics class when there was a sharp rap at the door and coach Lilith’s head popped in.

“Ms. Clawthorne can I help you?” Mr. Elder huffed, clearly not happy with the interruption in his lesson.

“Yes, I was hoping I could borrow ms.Blight for a minute?” she pointed over to where Amity was sitting. Amity turned to her physics teacher expectantly.

“Make it quick.” He waved Amity out of her seat and Amity and Lilith quietly walked out into the hallway, Lilith holding something just out of Amity’s eyesight.

“Is everything alright Ms. Clawthorne?” Amity held her hands behind her back and bounced on the balls of her feet, Her nervous energy radiating off her.

“Everything is fine Amity, I was actually hoping you could do me a favor.” Lilith brought the object she was hiding out for Amity to see. In her hands a blue jersey with the word ‘Noceda’ and the number 10 neatly stitched in yellow. “I believe it’s tradition that the captain gives the newest player their jersey.”

“Right.”She responded quietly. Amity gently lifted the jersey from Lilith’s grasp. 

“I know you and Luz don't always see eye to eye, but I was hoping you could set your differences aside to make a speech and present it to her before tonight’s game?”

Amity snapped out of her daze to answer her coach. “Of course, tradition is tradition.” She decided she didn’t need to get into the details of how her and Luz were actually getting along better as of late. “I’ll do my best.”

Lilith placed a hand on Amity’s shoulder “That’s the spirit. I trust I can leave this with you?

Amity nodded her head.

“Good.” Lilith began walking away, “I’ll see you tonight, Ms. Blight.”

***

Luz’s nerves were getting the better of her and by the last passing period Luz was practically running to get to her next class, not entirely looking where she was going. A figure rounded the corner the same time Luz was reaching it and they met in a head on collision. 

“Watch where you’re going!” the figure growled.

“I am so sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going and-” Luz looked up to see who she collided with to find none other than, “Oh, hi Amity.”

“Hi Luz,” The previous anger from Amity left, leaving her feeling more annoyed about her things spilling out of her backpack than at Luz.

“Here let me help you out.” Luz began collecting the scattered books. The two of them gathered Amity’s things and Amity shoved it all back in her bag, deciding to sort it later. As Amity was shoving her things into her bag , Luz fidgeted about, wanting to talk with the girl in front of her , but not quite sure how.

“Nervous?”

Amity’s voice brought Luz back to the present. “What?”

Amity nodded her head to Luz’s fidgeting hands.”Oh! Hah, yeah! I always get game day jitters.” Luz placed her hands into her pants pockets. _What are you so nervous about, just ask her, Luz!_

“Actually I wanted to ask you something.”

“Shoot.”

“I was wondering if you wanted to grab-” The shrill of the bell interrupted Luz for the second time that day, and Amity missed what Luz was trying to ask her.

“I’m sorry, what was that last part?”

Luz chickened out, determining to ask her after the game. “Uh, nothing, It can wait till later, right now I think we both need to get to class. See you around.” Luz gave her an awkward smile and sped off. Amity watched her go in confusion before shrugging it off as Luz being her quirky self. She walked off leaving a discarded jersey behind.

***

The locker room was alive with talk and gossip about today’s game.Lilith walked in and pulled Amity aside. “Do you have the jersey?”

“Yes, ma’am it’s in my bag.”

“Good, do you have a speech prepared?”

Amity looked out to the bustle of girls in the locker room. “I have something.”

“Good.” Lilith blew her whistle to get the attention of the team. Some people winced and rubbed their ears at the sound vibrating off the walls, but it worked, the whole team had their eyes on them. “Ms. Blight you have the floor.”

Amity took a deep breath and patted the side of her leg nervously before she stepped out into the center of the locker room.

“As most of you know it’s tradition that the captain gives the newest player their jersey. It’s also tradition that I give a little speech.” SHe turned to glance at Luz before continuing. “Now usually we have spring training to get to know the girls a bit, so I have a bit more to go on, but even with the limited time we’ve had I think we were all able to get to know Luz. You all know I can be a tiny bit over competitive.”

She received a few chuckles from her team, a tiny one coming out of herself as well. “So that didn’t leave Luz and I on the best of terms. Despite that, Luz has shown nothing, but compassion and friendship towards all of us, myself included. She’s a great player, one hell of a batter, and as recent events have shown she can take one hell of a punch.” another chorus of laughter. “I have no doubt that she will be a great addition to this team, now without further adieu,”

Amity went to her cubby to grab Luz’s jersey, but when she opened her bag she only found her school books and her planner. “Uh, one second.” She started tossing books to the side, desperately searching through the bag.

“Everything alright?” Lilith looked over Amity’s shoulder to see the look of panic on her face.

“I, I can’t find it, coach.” She continued to rummage through her bag, “It has to be in here somewhere.”

The girl all started to whisper to each other, some saying she lost it, others saying she it’s a big reveal.

“Told you she couldn’t be trusted.” Willow whispered to Luz.Luz ignored her, walking over to where Amity and now Lilith were searching Amity’s school bag. 

“Coach, is everything okay?” Luz placed a comforting hand on Lilith’s shoulder. Amity and Lilith shared a look and slowly turned to face Luz.

“I’m so sorry Luz, but I lost your jersey.”

Luz felt a twinge of disappointment in her heart, but ever the optimist, she gave Amity a toothy grin, “That’s what this commotion is all about? It’s fine Amity, I thought I would be wearing my old jersey anyways. After the game I’ll help you look for it. I’m sure it’s just in your locker or something.”

Amity didn't feel any better. “I just don’t understand where it could have gone. It was in my bag all day, the only time it could’ve fallen out was when-” Amity eyes widened and she gasped in surprise. She gripped onto both of Luz’s arms. “I know where your jersey is .” she whipped her to Lilith. “Have Bo cover for me, I'll be right back.” She bolted out of the locker room.

“Ms. Blight the game starts in five minutes!” Lilith called after Amity, but she was long gone. She sighed and addressed the rest of the team. “Alright all of you get out there and start warm-ups. Luz put on your old uniform. Let’s go ladies!

-

Luz was out on the field with her old jersey on stretching with the rest of the girls when Lilith was approached by the umpire.

“She can’t be wearing that.”

Lilith was taken back by his brashness, “I’m sorry, what?”

“Number 10,” he pointed to Luz. “She has to wear the team colors.”

“We don’t have her Jersey yet.”

“That’s not my problem, she needs to change or she can’t play, it's in the league’s guidelines. I’ll give you a 10 minute delay, so you can find her a new one.” he stalked off, probably to check the other team for violations.

“Luz!” Lilith called out.

Luz jogged over, placing her hands on her hips. “Yeah coach?”

“Any sign of Ms.Blight?”

“No.”

Lilith bit the corner of her bottom lip “shit.” she muttered, “They won’t let you play unless you have a jersey.”

“What!?”

“It’s in the league’s guidelines, you have to wear the team’s colors or you can’t play.”

“That’s bullshit!”

“Language!”

“Sorry.” Luz grumbled

“But I agree with you it is bullshit.” Lilith pinched the bridge of her nose. “Maybe we can find you a practice jersey in the equipment locker.”

An idea popped into Luz’s head. “I do have another jersey-”

Lilith caught on to what Luz was implying, “No, absolutely not.-”

“But tía-”

“I already told you. I want the first time you wear this uniform it would be your own.”

“Well it won’t be anyways if Amity can’t find my jersey!”

Lilith grew quiet, contemplating the matter. She placed her hand on her chin. “How fast can you change?”

“In a rush? 3 minutes.”

She went quiet again. “Fine, but we wait for Amity to get back first . If she’s not back three minutes before the game, then you can wear her jersey.”

-

Amity was racing down the darkened halls of Hexside high, the school seemed creepier after hours, but Amity didn’t have time to contemplate that as she raced up the stairs to the second floor hallways. She made several turns in the maze of hallways, until she came upon what looked to be a blue rag on the floor. She picked it up off the ground and shook it to reveal Luz’s jersey, slightly dirtied from the havoc of highschool. She quickly tucked it under arm and flew back through the school to the field.

-

“3 minutes Banshees.” The umpire called from home plate.

“Any sign of her?” Lilith called into the dugout. All the girls looked between each other and shook their heads no. Lilith turned to Luz. “Go.”

Luz dashed off to the locker room to change.

Once she left, Amity came spilling into the dugout, looking disheveled, but victorious as she held up the yellow and blue button-up.

Lilith’s eyes practically popped out of her head at the sight, but she maintained some composure as she directed Amity to the locker rooms. “Locker rooms, go now!”

Blew out a breath and collapsed onto the bench. “Whatever power above, please help me.”

-

Amity clambered into the locker room and saw Luz quickly buttoning a different jersey with the number ‘15’ on it. Luz jumped and spun around at the commotion.

“Amity?”

“Here’s. . . your. . . jersey.” Amity panted.

Luz surged forward and wrapped her arms around amity. Amity stumbled back from the force behind the hug.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you. You’re the best!” Luz praised slightly muffled by Amity’s shoulder.

A blush crept onto Amity’s face as she stood frozen, her arms extended out, but not quite reaching to hug Luz back. “You’re-” she squeaked. She cleared her throat and tried again. “You’re welcome. Ah, you should hurry though, if we want to make it.”

Luz broke the hug. “Right!” Luz stripped off the jersey she had on so she was wearing her white undershirt. She grabbed her jersey from Amity hands and threw it around her shoulders. She buttoned it up and hastily tucked it into her waistband. She grabbed her baseball cap from her bench and placed the discarded button up back in her duffel bag.

She spread her arms out wide and did a full 360. “ how do i look?”

“Like a Banshee.” Amity responded, “Except,” she went to her own cubby and pulled out black eye strips. She walked back to Luz and stuck two under each of her eyes. “There, now you won’t be blinded by the field lights.”

“Thanks.”

Amity felt Luz’s breath on her face and noticed just how close they were. Their faces were inches apart. Both girls felt butterflies in their stomach and it could have been Amity’s imagination, but she swore that Luz was leaning in ever so slightly.

The national anthem played over speakers and into the locker room, pulling both girls from the moment they were sharing.

“The game!” they shouted in unison and raced out of the room to the field, making it just as the song was ending.

***

“Well folks, it’s the seventh inning in the Banshees first home game of the season. It’s been an incredibly close game, with the Tri-Tech Wizards leading 5 to 4.” The announcer called over the loudspeaker. The cheerleaders were doing a routine to liven the crowd, Gus went flying through the air as they tossed him for a flip.

Eda climbed the stairs of the bleachers and scooted by other onlookers to her wife. Both of them bundled up for the cold weather that was beginning to mix into the night air. Eda in her old varsity jacket and Camilla wrapped in a checkered blanket, wearing one of Eda’s old sweatshirts. Eda handed Camilla a hot dog from the concessions stand, biting into her own.

“You made it back just in time. She’s up next.” Camilla took her hot dog from Eda, appreciating the warmth it spread to her hands.

“Oh really? COME ON KIDDO, LET’S GO!” Eda shouted over the crowd. Although she couldn’t see Luz, she could feel it in her heart that Luz was blushing at the nickname.

“Up to bat next we have catcher and newcomer Luz Noceda!” The crowd roared in excitement as Luz gave a little wave to the crowd and set up in the batter's box.

“This is Noceda’s third time up to bat the game, with two strikeouts the previous times,with a runner in scoring position, let’s hope her luck will change.” The speaker cut out with a fizzle.

The pitcher and Luz locked eyes with each other and the pitcher gave Luz a menacing sneer as they wound up for the first pitch.

“A swing and a miss for Noceda.”

Anger boiled within Luz as she struck the bat on the plate. The pitcher’s sneer grew.

“Come on kid, don’t let ‘em get in her head.” Eda whispered to herself.

Luz took a calming breath. The smell of dirt and sweat mixed in her nostrils. She met the pitcher’s eyes with a new found determination, that caused his smile to falter a bit. 

He wound up for the second pitch. A curve ball.

crack.

The silence was deafening as the crowd and players alike watched the ball soar through the air and over the gate into the woods.

The crowd exploded into cheers. Eda and Camilla stood up with the crowd.

“That’s our kid!” Eda gloated as her and Camilla shared a hug.

-

The Banshees won the game with a total score of 7 to 5. As Amity threw the last pitch, the team swarmed the pitcher’s mound in a dog pile for a celebratory group hug. 

Camilla watched with tears in her eyes, as the team raised Luz and Amity up, Luz laughing and a glint in her eye.

Eda and Camilla exited the bleachers with the masses and waited for Luz by the parking lot.

They were making small talk when Eda suddenly grimaced, clutching her left wrist.

“Cariño, are you okay?” Camilla rubbed tiny circles into Eda’s back.

“I’m fine, the cold is just making my joints stiff.”

“Are you sure, have you been taking your medicine.”

Eda waved her off, “Yes, I'm fine. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

The two failed to notice Luz sneaking up behind them as she tackled them in a bear hug. 

“Did you see me!?” She squealed.

Both of her moms laughed, hugging her back with the same force. “We sure did, we are so proud of you mija.” 

“So,are you totally ready to party with your teammates?”Eda tried to strike a cool pose, but it looked more awkward in Luz’s eyes.

She laughed despite her confusion, “Totally,” she caught Amity walking by out of the corner of her eye. “Can you just give me a second?”

“Sure kiddo, just try to keep it quick, Mamas getting hungry.” Eda rubbed her hands together over the thought of a warm pizza in this cold weather.

“Eda, you just ate.” Camilla chimed

“Your point?” Eda rebutled. 

Luz left them to bicker and went to talk to Amity. She caught her right as she got to Ed and Em’s car.

“Hey Amity.”

“Oh Luz.” Amity shot around to see Luz standing right behind her. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to ask you something, well actually I wanted to ask you earlier, but I didn’t get the chance to and-”

“Mittens what’s the hold up?” Ed popped his head out of the driver’s side window. “Oh. Hey Luz.”

“Hi.” She gave him a quick wave of her hand, “Anyways, some of us are grabbing pizza, and we wanted to know if you wanted to join us?”

“Oh.” Amity was flabbergasted, “You still want me to come after today?”

“Of course! Today was a total accident, I don’t blame you for that.”

“I would love to, but Ed and Em are already her to drive me home.”

“They are more than welcome to come.” Luz encouraged.

Amity turned to her brother to get his opinion. He shrugged back at her. “We’ve got no plans. Mom and Dad said they had a business dinner tonight, so we were on our own.”

“And pizza always sounds good.” Em chimed in, poking her head out of her car side window.

“So,” The siblings all turned to Luz, “What do you say Amity.” Luz stared at her with hopeful eyes.

Amity looked back to her siblings and back to Luz, “We would love too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will Eda's jersey make another appearance? What medication does Eda take? Does this pizza dinner go well? All will be answered and more in next week's update of Strike To The Heart! In all seriousness, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, leave comment on some of your series, and if you really liked it leave a kudos! I f you didn't let me know how I can improve it! See you all next week!


	9. Amends and Enemies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinner is a bit of a wild ride for a few people and how will people react to an old foe appears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, my break took longer than expected, but I have a few chapters at the ready, so We should have a bit of a smoother schedule. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

Ed followed Eda out of the school’s parking lot onto the winding roads of Bonesborough. The eeriness of the flickering streetlights and forest backdrop eventually giving way to the small tourist town. They pulled into the parking lot and Amity looked out the window to see the bright shiny lights of the building.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Before them stood, in bright, bold letters, “Tibbles’ Big Top Pizzeria”. Their mascot, a well-dressed pig, was eating a slice of pepperoni pizza, which in retrospect was probably cannibalism. But considering how odd Bonesborough was, no one seemed to give it a second thought. Amity could hear Edric and Emira laughing giddily with excitement.

“This is gonna be awesome.” Edric sing-songed.

Ed was quick to pull into the parking spot next to Eda and the twins eagerly scrambled out of the car like animals being released into the wild.

“Well someone’s eager.” Luz chirped, struggling to suppress a laugh as The twins all, but tumbled to the ground. Quick to recover, the twins stood next to each other practically vibrating with excitement.

“You could say that,” Amity answered for them as she calmly and collectively got out of the car. 

“Alright, hurry up, kiddos. I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to. The manager and I don’t exactly see eye to eye.” Eda began ushering the kids along.

“What happened with the manager?” Amity whispered to Luz. 

“Oh, Mamí, got kicked out last time for cheating on one of the games.”

“Some call it cheating, I call it strategy.” Eda shrugged, beginning to put on a hat and a pair of sunglasses.

“You picked the lock of the machine, and took out the roll of tickets.”

“Again, strategy.”

The twins' eyes grew wider than they already were. “Teach us your ways, wise one!” they began bowing to Eda.

Camila gave Eda a warning look, signaling her to shut it down. “Sorry kids, those days are long behind me. This woman here changed me for the better.” She slung an arm around Camila’s shoulders. Camila responded with a playful slap to Eda’s chest. “Charmer,” she muttered.

Camila slinked out of Eda’s grasp and walked ahead of the group. When Eda thought she was out of earshot, she leaned down to the twins, placing a hand on the side of her mouth, “I’ll teach you later.” sending the twins into another fit of excitement.

The group walked towards the entrance, Amity noticeably falling behind. The twins dropped back from the party to walk next to her. “Something on your mind Mittens?”Ed leaned on her shoulder “What’s the matter mittens?”

Amity shrugged, scrunching up her nose a tiny bit. “I don’t know, isn't this place like, for kids?”

“And what exactly are you?” Emira teased.

“I mean like,” she brought her hand waist, “Little kids.”

“Amity, do you ever remember coming here as a little kid?”

“Well no, Mom and Dad wouldn’t be caught dead here.”

“Exactly.” Edric lightly tagged Amity’s shoulder before picking his pace up to run ahead. He turned around and extended his arms out in a grand gesture. “Tonight we’re kids! I won’t kill you to have some fun Amity!” Edric turned back around to catch up with Luz and her parents that were now by the door, waiting patiently while giving the Blights a little privacy.

“Come on,” Em nudges Amity, “Freedom awaits.” and she ran off to catch up to the group, leaving Amity standing alone. From the distance she could see Luz wave her over, an optimistic smile plastered on her face.

“Here goes nothing.” 

Together they entered the building and began searching for their team and, for Eda’s sake, the manager.

The dings of bells and sound effects of games filled the air. It smelled heavily of deep-fried food, and the dining area looked a bit dingy compared to the flashing lights of all the fun activities that lay ahead, waiting to be played and take children’s money. By no means should it pass a health inspection, but somehow it managed a C, besides, patrons weren’t really there for the food. Not usually anyway.

Luz saw Willow waving them over and watched as her face noticeably dropped as she noticed that Amity was with them. They made their way to the tables that were grouped together for the large party.

"Hey, guys!” Luz greeted. Most of the team turned around to greet her back and stopped in their tracks when they saw Amity was behind her. The silence spread through the building, even the games and activities seemed to silence over the tension of the situation.

Amity folds in on herself, awkwardly raising a hand to wave, “Hi,” she squeaks out. If her mother was with her, she would be telling her that Blights don’t cower in the face of trouble… But her mother wasn’t here right now, and all Amity wanted to do was run. _This was such a bad idea._

Willow was the first to speak up, “I told Luz she could invite you, but I didn’t think you would actually come.”

“Well it’s a team event and I am the captain, why wouldn’t I come?”

“Because we’ve invited you before, and you never did.” Celeste piped. That shocked everyone at the table, minus Luz. Celeste was the quiet one on the team, the fact that she was speaking out meant this was something that bothered her greatly. The shocked looks that were once held for Amity now turned to Celeste. “Sorry,” she muttered, burying her face into her menu.

Shaking her head out of the shock Celeste gave her, Amity continued, “When? I don’t remember any of you ever ask me?”

Willow picked up where Celeste left off, “Well, we invited Boscha and asked her to invite you, but she said that you two wouldn’t be caught dead hanging out with us.” 

_Boscha._ That girl had been the cause of a lot of Amity’s problems recently, tonight wasn’t the night to dwell on it though. Instead, she made a mental note to have a chat with Boscha later and continued on. For once she would use that Blight fire for good.

“Well, I’m here now, and I don’t plan on missing any more of these.” She took a seat in one of the available chairs to prove her point. That gesture got a rise out of the team as the girls let out a cheer.

Luz’s eyes were brimming with tears of joy, she may not have known about the schism between the captain and her team, but she was happy that she had inadvertently helped patch it together a bit. She took her seat next to Amity, creating a buffer between her and Willow. Leaving the twins to grab empty chairs and sit across from them. Camila and Eda sauntered off towards a separate table where the rest of the parents sat.

“So what’s there to eat?” Amity asked.

Fried.

That’s what there was to eat. What exactly was fried? Everything. Corn dogs, fried chicken, fried steak, fried shrimp, fried burger, you name it, they probably had a fried version of it, even one of the pizza options was fried.

The twins were reveling in it, they ordered everything off the menu, the waitress was having a hard time keeping up with them. They bounced off each other asking for dish after dish.

“We’ll have the heart attack special-”

“Extra gravy-”

“And six corn dogs-”

“With chili added on them-”

“Also the Tibbles’ Pizza Bananza-”

“And yes we would like to make it a double.” they synced.

Amity on the other hand.

Her nose crinkled in disgust, her mother’s distinguished taste getting the better of her. Not a single thing looked remotely healthy, or sanitary to eat. Amity gazed on in utter horror as her siblings and everyone else ordered with little regard to how their bodies would process it later.

“What can I get for you?” the waitress asked, her voice thick with some NorthEast American accent, Amity couldn’t quite pin. She was dressed rather ridiculously in a purple ring leader costume with a poofy skirt to match the sleeves.

“Do you have a salad option that’s not deep-fried?”

“The best I can do is snag a plain burger off the line before it gets battered and dunked into the oil.”

“That works.” Amity handed the menu to the waitress, eyes squeezed shut as she tried to erase the mental image of how many food items got dunked into that oil. She turned her attention to the conversation Luz was having, desperately trying to distract herself. Luz seemed to be a good option for that purpose.

“So we had to then carry her through the field with her ankle sprained, while my Mom was yelling at us in Spanish about how we needed to be more careful.”

Amity was utterly confused. “I’m sorry, I just caught the tail end of that, what are you talking about?”

“Oh, I was just telling Willow and Cat about how I got my dog, King, out of jail with my Mamí.” She held up a picture of some sort of mutt breed with black fur and white spots circling his eyes.

“Jail is a strong word Luz, it was two old ladies’ house” Cat teased.

“Hey they held him against his will and we had to jump over a barbed-wire fence. It was doggie jail in my opinion.” Luz raised her hands in defense.

“There’s never a dull moment in your life, huh?” Amity asked.

“Oh, that was nothing.” She waved her hand dismissively, “ Wait till you hear the story about how we broke Eda out of a cult.”

“A what now?” the girls sputtered in unison, but the waitress chose that moment to bring their food, derailing the conversation.

_

Amity was laughing, like hardcore laughing, snort inducing, hurts to breath laughing at something WIllow had said. 

“Wait so that’s why you were out for a week last season?” Amity said between her fits of giggles, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“Yep, so you can thank Amelia for giving me the worst stomach bug of my life”

“Hey, how was I supposed to know that you were allergic to bananas?” Amelia defended.

“I don’t know, maybe ask?!” The girls broke out into a giggle.

“And that happened at the team sleepover?” Amity questioned. The girls all nodded their heads again. “How have I never heard about any of these things before?”

“Well we’ve invited you, but after our second season together we kinda gave up.” 

Amity gave an exasperated sigh. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a terrible Captain. I promise. From here on in I will make an effort to be a better captain, someone you all come to and look up to.”

“Well, this is definitely a start,” Willow answered. “And we all have to start somewhere. Now,” She slapped the top of the rumble with her hand, “Who’s ready for games.?”

Group clambered out of their seats, the twins with even more vigor. They all grabbed tokens at the prize counter, each getting 100 tokens for a whopping $35 dollars a person, and spread out through the arcade Some going to play skee ball, others air hockey, some opting to line up for the small laser tag field towards the back of the building.

Amity hesitated at the counter 

Her Blight bloodline once again, getting the better of her. She gazed out, her nose wrinkling, as her team scattered about, failing to notice a certain teammate falling behind, well almost all of them. 

“Not really your style?” Luz guessed leaning into Amity’s line of sight. She looked ridiculous, by Amity’s standards, Her hair falling off her head as she tilted it almost completely upside down, her cheeks flushed from the blood rushing to her head. Amity’s face relaxed at the sight.

“You could say that.” Amity suddenly found the ground more interesting as she rubbed the nape of her neck. “ This place isn’t really my family's forté."

"Your siblings seem to be having fun.” Luz pointed over to the twins who were now by the soft-serve machines. Ed’s head was under it as Em was pulling the handle, chanting ‘Chug!’ repeatedly. Amity stared in absolute embarrassment while Luz stifled a giggle. 

“Yeah, my siblings have an easier time letting loose than I do.” _Ed’s going to be sick later._ “They saw this as an opportunity to live the childhood we never had.”

“Childhood you never had?” Luz’s face showed evident confusion as she put the pieces together. “Wait. You’ve never been here before!.” Luz’s eyes grew to the size of saucers as Amity shook her head ‘no’. She put Amity’s wrist in a vice grip as she dragged her deeper into the arcade frenzy. "Okay. We are officially making this the greatest night of your life."

Suddenly, Amity was a part of her team as Luz hopped from game to game. They played every game as far as the eye could see. At some point in their escapade, Willow had joined them. They played a few rounds of laser tag, air hockey, and now they were taking turns throwing baseballs at knock-over clowns, Luz had gone to get ice cream for the three of them.

“You know Amity? When I told Luz she could invite you here tonight, I didn’t think you would actually come,” Willow threw a ball, striking one of the clowns in the face. “And when you showed up, I thought tonight was going to be a disaster.”

Amity knocked over another clown. “Yeah, this night has gone a lot differently than I thought too.” She looked towards the front, where Luz was waiting in line, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Luz caught Amity’s stare and waved at her, causing Amity’s cheeks to slightly redden. Amity brushed it off as the exertion of energy and waved back at Luz. Willow continued on, having missed that interaction.

“But tonight has been fun, and while I’m still hurt over what happened between us. Tonight has shown me that maybe I can forgive you.”

Amity stared back at her with wide eyes, “ does that mean, what I think it means?”

“No.” Amity looked crestfallen. “But it is a start.”A small smile returned to Amity’s face and she stuck out her hand. 

“I think I can live with that. To a start.”

Willow grasped Amity’s hand. “A start.” Above them the machine called out ‘winner’, and lights flashed above them as the machine spewed out tickets.

That night all the girls walked out of there with joyful laughs feeling the air, and a less than joyful Ed. Luz walked up next to Amity and bumped into her shoulder. “Soooo. Did you have a good night?”

“You know what I did. Thank you, Luz, for inviting me and for helping me relax a little.”

“Would you say it was the greatest night of your life?”

“Mmm.” Amity tapped the tip of her chin in thought. “Greatest is a strong word, but top five for sure.” Amity gave Luz a look that told her she was kidding and the two girls broke into laughter. “But in all seriousness, this was a pretty great night. I think this is something I’ll remember.”

Eda called to Luz the car, rushing her to get in.“Well, I’m glad I could help, we’ll see you again next game night right?”

“Totally. Night Luz.”

Luz gave her finger guns and ran over to her parent’s car.

-

With another Saturday morning came Eda waking Luz up to help her work at the store. Now she was slumped behind the cash register as she watched a couple browse the shelves of the store.

The bell to the front of the store rang, signaling someone new entering the store.

"Welcome to Eda's- Oh, Hi Sheriff Wraith." Luz lifted her head off her hand as she looked over to the front of the store.

Sheriff Wraith was a veteran, with scars across his face to prove it. The pink scars contrasting his dark skin. He was a stickler for the rules but has had a soft spot for Eda since highschool. He always respected Eda, even after she turned him down and came out in high school as Bi. But his harbored feelings for her never went away. So, when he wasn't arresting her, he would often stop by the shop with flowers and ask Eda how she was.

Luz noticed the lack of flowers in his hands. " HI Luz, is Eda around?" He peered over her shoulder to try and look into the back room.

"What did she do this time?" Luz monotoned, receiving a somewhat pensive chuckle from him. 

"eh, nothing actually, I just," He cleared his throat. Luz noticed that he was sweating. "I have some news she might want to hear." He looked genuinely nervous about whatever the news was. That worried Luz, she never saw the sheriff nervous, and that was something he tended to boast about with pride, so if he was scared then what did that mean for her and Eda? That was the moment that Eda chose to enter from the back, carrying a box.

"Ah, Warden! how are you?" She also noticed the lack of flowers. "What did I do this time?" She set the box on the table.

"Nothing Eda, I just have some news that I thought you would want to hear."

"Well geez warden, you're sweating like pig, what is it?"

"Mayor Titan is stepping down from office this term-"

"That was the big news! You had me scared there for a second. So what if he steps down."

"He stepping down, and Pastor Belos is running for office." He finished, his eyes failing to meet Eda's eyes, which were now filled with a mix of horror and anger.

"What?" she growled.

"Belos is running for-"

"I heard you the first time Wraith. I'm just," She let out sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Processing." She turned to Luz, who now looked pale as a ghost and trembling.

"Hey, kiddo. Are you okay?" Luz stared back at her with tears in her eyes.

"I thought we were done dealing with him. I- Eda what happens if he wins, Mami he can't win."

"Don't worry, we won't let him." She brought Luz into a hug. Over Luz's shoulder, she stared at the sheriff with a look of help.

"The City Council has a meeting next Friday. They'll have a hearing about all the possible candidates to make sure they're eligible to run. They'll have an open hearing for the people to voice any concerns."

"Then we'll go to that." She pulled Luz away, gripping her by the shoulders. "I'll make sure he can't run Luz. I'll make sure he can't hurt us anymore."

Luz sniffled and pressed her head against Eda's chest. Eda rubbed soothing circles into Luz's back. "It'll be okay Luz. I promise." 

Except Eda wasn't sure if it would be, with pastor Belos back, their lives were about to become a lot more hectic, and a lot scarier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliff hanger time! I'm evil like that, so I've thrown Belos into the midst, its time to really get this story going. While the Team is the main part, I love a good backstory and conflict. What would a good story be without it? I hope you all enjoyed that chapter, leave a kudos or a comment if you do! Also, the art is coming along slowly, but surely. See you all next Saturday!


	10. Old Habits Die Hard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both families have a discussion about what their next steps are, for some it's positive, and for others, well, as the title says, old habits die hard. Trigger warning: there is abuse, I've put a warning before and after it for people to skip if they feel uncomfortable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, today has been a busy day, I'm just now sitting at my computer to post. I hope you all enjoy it! I'm going to bed.

Saturday was equally bad as the Blight siblings, someone had tipped off their parents about their excursion to Tibble’s and they were less than pleased. Now the three stood in the living room, hands tucked behind their backs and heads hung low. Their mother’s shadow looming over them as she paced in front of them, berating them for their childish behavior. Alador stood off to the side, leaning against the mantle of their ornate fireplace, listening, but not commenting on the matter. He rarely did in these situations.

“To stoop so low as to enter a facility like that, that” She sputtered her words, flustered at the mere thought of her children entering that domain. “That dirt ridden, rat-infested, money trap. It’s absolutely deplorable!” She stopped her pacing in front of Emira, who stood between Edric and Amity. “We are high class, imagine if the press found out that OUR children-”

“Your children, what mother? Had fun, Lord forbid that we show any sign that we have emotion!” Emira lashed at her, daring to even look Odalia straight in the eyes. It was Alador’s voice that Answered for Odalia’s shocked demeanor.

“Don’t you dare talk to your mother that way! That’s a warning Emira!” His voice boomed, shaking the mansion to its foundation. All the siblings flinched and Emira silenced and resumed back to her previous position.

It was moments like these that the siblings wished they had their private dad, the one that listened to them, instead of the one that was currently rearing its ugly head around their mother. 

Odalia smoothed the front of her dress, which had crinkled when she was taken aback by Emira’s brash words, smoothed loose strands of her hair back into her tight bun, and pressed on. “We are Blights, we do NOT,” her piercing eyes shot to the twin, “let ourselves be seen as anything less than perfect.” Odalia sniffed, turning her nose into the air, as she resumed pacing. “Now, while I can call this a momentary lapse of judgment for you two, I expected better from you Amity.”

Amity winced again, burying her chin further into her chest, capturing her bottom lip between her teeth. Tears pricked the corner of her eyes. She nodded to acknowledge her mother but refused to look up.

“You are the future of this family’s company. Your image is more important than your siblings, you should have known better than to let them drag you into their mess.” Odalia turned the twins, “You two are dismissed.” 

The twins looked between each other and then at their little sister. 

“Did I stutter?” Venom laced her words. The twins quickly scurried to the stairs. “Oh, and Emira?” Em turned back to her mother, standing just by the mouth of the stairs, “Do learn to tame that temper of yours, before it gets you into more trouble than you can handle.” Odalia wore her signature smile while her eyes held the intensity of a burning flame. Em gulped and nodded her head. Seeming satisfied with that answer, Odalia let the smile grow as she flicked her head towards the top of the staircase, indicating for Em to make her exit.

Once both siblings ascended to the maze of halls and rooms of the higher levels. Their parents turned their attention to the last Blight standing.

“What caused you to do this?” It sounded more like a demand than a question, and Amity wished she had some form of magical powers. Maybe she could shrink to the size of a mouse, or turn invisible. Maybe she could conjure up some sort of abomination to get rid of her parents. But, unfortunately for her, she obtained no such luck, so she had to resort to speaking.

“It was my idea, actually,” that got a rise out of her mother.

“And what on earth could have possessed you to do such a thing?!” She clutched the fabric on her chest in a worrisome pattern expecting her daughter’s answer.

“The team was celebrating our recent victory, and Edric and Emira said that you had a dinner date, so I used the opportunity to be a good leader and team captain.” Amity’s voice sounded meek, and she was visibly wincing at the possibility that Odalia wouldn’t like the answer she had given her.

TW// Abuse//

Amity felt a sharp pain as Odalia hand raked across her face, the resounding slap echoed off the walls. She let out a yelp, a red mark was already beginning to form on her face.

“Blight’s don’t cower, honey. Confidence will get you farther in life than fear.” Odalia pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a long sigh, “While I applaud you for your initiative, next time be sure your celebration is a more high-end place.”

Tears streamed down Amity’s face as she rubbed her cheek. “Of course, ma’am.” Amity sniffled

“Good,” Odalia busied herself with the cuffs of her sleeves, seeming uninterested in her daughter now that she got what she wanted out of her, “You’re dismissed.” 

Amity nodded her head goodbye, and quietly left the room, speeding up the stairs two at a time, and racing down to her room, locking the door behind her as she threw herself onto her bed. She buried herself under the many layers of blankets, cocooning herself away from the world. The tears flowing down her face, wishing she had never existed.  _ I knew that was a bad idea, why did I go along with it? What came over me?  _

A soft knock on her door pulled her from her thoughts.

“Amity? Are you okay in there?”

It was the twins.

She elected to ignore their cries at her door, snuggling deeper into her bed. She heard her phone buzz in her pocket. She was quick to silence it and toss it on her nightstand, not even caring who was trying to contact her, assuming that it was the twins. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to push away all the negative thoughts that were beginning to creep around the edges of her mind. Eventually, exhaustion took over her as she fell into a dreamless sleep.

//TW end//

***

_5:45 pm_

_ Hey, It’s Luz, Willow nd I wer going to the batting cages, if u wanna join? _ __   
  


_6:17 pm_

_ Wer headin out now is that a no then??? _

Luz tapped her foot nervously on the concrete floors of the shop. Her phone’s screen light blaring back at her. Her bottom lip was tucked between her teeth as she gnawed on it with nervous vigor.

“Still haven’t heard from her?” Eda emerged from the backroom meeting her daughter’s solemn gaze as she shook her ‘no’ peering back down at her phone.

“Maybe she’s just busy kiddo.”Eda lightly slapped Luz’s back, trying to bring back her spark that she had gained back not too long ago.

That’s why she had suggested going to the batting cages in the first place. Eda even suggested inviting some of her friends to help her get her mind off of things, while they waited for the council meeting Friday. Luz had already invited Willow, who graciously accepted. Now they were closing up shop early to go pick her up. She lived a bit far away from the direction they were heading, but it was a small price to pay to cheer Luz up.

“Maybe.” Luz shrugged, deciding to peer out the glass door to the setting sun.

“Come on, it’s getting late and we still need to pick your friend up.”




The ride to Willow’s house was uncharacteristically quiet, even by Luz’s standards. As was the batting cage. While Willow was able to clear the fog from Luz’s eyes. It was clear that when Willow told a joke Luz’s laugh seemed hollow. When they challenged each other on who could hit the most home runs, there wasn’t the same power behind Luz’s swing that both Eda and Willow had seen before. When Willow questioned Luz on the matter she claimed that she was a little tired from working all day at the shop. Though it was clear that Willow didn’t buy her answer for a minute, she didn’t press the matter further.

They treated Willow to some burgers and shakes at a local diner that served lactose-intolerance options. They drove her home and thanked her for the eventful evening. When Luz hugged her, Willow's arms lingered around Luz’s shoulders a little longer than usual.

When Luz and Eda arrived home, Luz was quick to head upstairs after wishing everyone a goodnight, saying she was heading to bed early.

After she disappeared Camilla was quick to turn to Eda, her parental instincts kicking in as worry began to seep into her features. And it only grew as her wife’s face reflected their daughter’s.

“You might want to sit down for this.” Eda gestured for her to take a seat on the couch. Her eyes were trained on Eda as she began to fidget where she stood, it was clear that whatever was on her mind was difficult for her to express. “I’m gonna make us some tea.” Eda finally breathed out.

“No, Eda you need to tell me what’s going on.” Camilla huffed, crossing her arms. Her left leg bounced anxiously, giving away her menacing stare.

“I will.” Eda assured, “ but after I make us some tea.” Camilla watched as Eda disappeared into the kitchen, returning moments later with two steaming cups. She joined Camilla on the couch. She handed her one of the mugs, encouraging her to take a few sips before she continued. “There’s no easy way to say this Camilla, but Belos is back.”

The sound of ceramic breaking echoed as Camila’s mug fell from her grasp.

_ 

Around 11:30 at night Luz was disturbed by a soft knock on her door. Her mother’s muffled voice coaxing her out of her slumber. “Mija, it’s me.”

Camilla didn't wait for a response as she entered the teen’s messy room. She felt a divot as Camilla sat precariously on the edge of her bed, and a warm hand placed on her blanketed leg. “Mija how are you feeling?”

No response. 

“Mami and I talked about what happened today. I promise he’s not going to mess with our lives anymore, we'll go to the city council meeting. They'll know what he did."

Luz buried herself deeper in her covers.

Camilla let out a sigh, "Luz, will you please look at me?"

Again, no response.

Camilla resigned herself, deciding she wasn't going to talk to her tonight."I love you, Mija. Goodnight." She patted her leg and left the room, quietly closing the door behind her.

Luz let out a muffled sob she had been holding in, letting her tears poor freely. Evenly crying herself into a dreamless sleep. Around 2:00 a.m her screen lit up with a message.

_ Amity  _

2:13 a.m

_ Sorry, I missed ur text. . . R u awake? _

***

The bad moods of the weekend carried into the week for both households. For the Noceda’s with nothing to do except wait for the council meeting, Luz had taken on an old habit her mothers had hoped they would never see again. For the Blight’s it was back to their old ways of fakery. It seemed that all the progress that had been made over the last few months, was washed away in a single weekend. 

Despite the two groups' sour demeanor, the school was alive with the buzz of Friday's victory as well as the excitement of the holiday soon approaching. With the October chill in the air, Halloween was right around the corner and the school had already begun to decorate. Orange and black streamers lined the hallways and paper cut-out spiders and witches hung from the ceiling.

Willow and Gus greeted Luz at her locker, receiving a half-hearted smile in return. “Wow, I guess this school really takes Halloween seriously.” 

“Oh, yeah! They go all out, they buy into the lore of town.” Willow filled in the excitement that Luz lacked. “They even have a Halloween dance to pay homage to the rituals witches used to do on all hallow’s eve.”

“They even hold a scavenger hunt, principal Bump goes all out!” Gus added. This seemed to bring Luz out of her stupor. “Scavenger hunt?” she perked.

A wave of relief washed over her friends to see the light that Luz had shine through again. They dived into the details of the scavenger hunt, desperate to keep that light shining. They were explaining how teams worked when Amity walked by them in her usual posse of rich girls. Luz spotted her and rode her current high to talk to her.

“Amity hey, sorry for ignoring your text I had a bit of a rough weekend. Sorry, you couldn’t hang out with us.” 

Boscha scoffed, and answered in Amity’s stead “Yeah like, she would ever hang out with you losers.” Luz’s face dropped as she turned to Amity for back up. Amity’s face held a stoic expression, but her eyes told otherwise. She looked to Luz with a sign of, what Luz could only infer as a mixture of remorse and fear, as she snapped her head forward and trudged ahead of the group. Boscha laughed as she followed suit. “What a bunch of losers.” the trio heard her cackle a distance away.

Luz turned back to her friends, her previous demeanor returning. She dropped her gaze to the floor.

Gus placed a tentative hand on Luz’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Luz met her friend's eyes with tears in her own. “Yeah, I’m fine.” she sniffed, wiping the tears threatening to spill. She slammed her locker shut. “I’m going to head to class, I’ll see you guys at lunch.” She stormed off in the direction of her class, shaking her head in confusion. She thought that Amity could change.

Turns out she was wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise it will get better! There needs to be darkness before the dawn. I don't like putting these sweet babies in this situation either, but they will get some relief soon. . . ish! I'm sorry, I'm pretty sure I put some fluff after these next few chapters, but I'm too tired to look right now. Let me know how you feel in the comments! And please leave a kudos if you enjoyed that chapter! See you all next week!


	11. Lies Build Glistening Towers of Glass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amity seeks to right a wrong while the Clawthorne-Noceda family tries to prevent a horrible history from repeating itself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me posting two chapters because I totally spaced on posting last Saturday? More likely than you think, I'll be posting the next chapter after this one on Monday to still give you all some sort of suspense (And so I can finish editing it). Happy Valentine's day to you all or, in my case, Singles-Awareness day. My gift to you all is trauma. . .YAAY!!! Also OVER 2,000 READERS! You all are incredible, everyone line up so I can give you consensual hugs or kisses or toys(If you're not comfortable with physical contact) Seriously you all rock! I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I give you, the long-awaited Council Chapter!

Lies

Lies are what run the world and Amity was stupid to think that she could be apart of anything otherwise, even for a brief moment. After what Boscha did on Monday, Amity had tried to reconcile with Luz, but the girl was avoiding her like the plague. Not that Amity could blame her when she herself might’ve been slightly avoiding her too. Boscha was parading Amity around, like a prize she had won, but that’s what Amity was, a prize the social elite had won back from her momentary lapse of judgment. Amity had gone back to her old ways of fake smiles when Boscha was harsh towards people, and even faker laughs when the girl spoke to her. 

The rift had even affected the team, practices became disorganized from the lack of communication. Amity even saw the effects of the harsh words every time she looked at Luz, chalking up her glazed overlooks to be a direct correlation to Monday's events. Unbeknownst to her that Luz's mind was elsewhere. The week seemed to fly by now Amity was sitting at the lunch table with her siblings and their friends, wishing she could somehow change the past.

-

Luz nervously bit on her nail as she gazed down at the quiz in front of her. From all the commotion from the weekend, she had completely spaced on studying for her chemistry quiz. Eda had taught her enough about chemistry to get her through most of the quiz with ease, but now she was stuck on the last page. Completely lost on where to even start on the problem. She inwardly groaned and did what she could on the problem, hoping for partial credit, turning it in at the front. She slumped back down in her chair, head making a slight thump sound as she dropped it to the surface of the table.

"Psst."

Luz's eyes flicked to her right. At some point during the week, Professor Malcolm got tired of Boscha's non-stop chatter to Amity and gave the girls an ultimatum for one of them to move. Amity, a tad too eager, moved her seat so she now sat next to Luz. Luz’s mind elsewhere, and her recent desire to avoid the girl, barely noticed.

until now.

Luz turned her head, quirking an eyebrow in Amity’s direction. She was answered to the shuffling of papers as they were discreetly displayed under Amity's arm.

"What?" Luz mouthed. She questioned Amity's motives, the girl had recently caused her nothing, but headaches as she tried to figure out the inner machinations of Amity’s brain. She was answered as the pencil that was dangling precariously between Amity's fingers tapped the bottom of the page twice. In neat handwriting it read:

_ Sorry about Monday. _

Luz spared a glance at the teacher and jotted down, in her messy scrawl:

_ It’s Fine. _

Amity read her response a scowl on her face, she quickly wrote out her rebuttal.

_ You don’t seem fine. _

Luz, too tired to answer and too concerned about the council meeting tonight, rolled her eyes and buried her face in her arms. This struck Amity as especially concerning because within the short time she’s gotten to know Luz, she had been nothing short of a beacon of hope for everyone she met. She sat inside her head trying to deduce how to get through to Luz after class while maintaining the status her Mother and Father wanted her to uphold. Her solution came to her when the bell rang.

Luz was the first to bolt out of her seat and when Amity glanced over at her old lab partner was still finishing up her test. She struck while the iron was hot, quickly collecting her things and running to catch up to Luz. When Amity stumbled through the Chemistry Lab door, she saw that Luz was already halfway across the field and quickly gaining ground. She might’ve been more impressed if she wasn’t working against a time crunch. She jogged after Luz, which quickly turned into a sprint, reaching her just before the stairs to the lunchroom.

“Luz, wait what’s going on?” Amity’s hand grazed Luz’s shoulder, pulling with just enough force to stop Luz in her tracks.

Luz hung her head, her back still facing the mint-haired teen. “I don’t know, Amity, what’s going on with you?” She spun around, but her head was still hung low, refusing to turn around and meet Amity’s golden orbs.”You know, I don’t understand you. One minute you're this nice person that I thought I could be friends with, ignoring Willow’s warnings thinking that you could change. Willow even though you changed, but then you’re back to being this cold-hearted person.”

She fiddled with her fingers, taking a pause, her next words coming out a bit choked. “And I would like to believe that there’s good in everyone-” Luz finally met Amity’s eyes with her own, watery ones. “-but I’ve been proven wrong before.”

She wiped the tears from her eyes, a mirthless laugh escaping her lips. “So if you could make up your mind that would be great.-” a sniff “because I’ve got a lot of other shit to deal with right now and I don’t know how much more I can take.” 

“Luz-” Amity’s words were soft as her heart broke for the girl in front of her. “I can promise you, that the girl you see when I’m with Boscha, or on that Baseball field is not the real me.” She gestured to herself. “This, the person standing in front of you, is. I can't exactly explain why I act the way I do, but, please.” Her own eyes now sparkling. “Don’t give up on me yet.”

“If you really mean what you say then stop picking on people.” Amity and Luz heard Amity’s name in the distance. “Looks like you're needed elsewhere.” Luz nodded her head behind Amity.

“Luz I-” Her name grew louder.

“I’ll see you at practice Amity.”

“But Luz-”

Luz gave her a small smile, then bounded up the stairs and into the building just as Boscha caught up to them.

“What did Luzer want?”

Amity stared at the door Luz left through. “Nothing_” she turned her attention to Boscha, “ **Luz,** wanted nothing.”

-

Eda yanked at the collar of her shirt, she was dressed in a brown tweed suit. Not her brightest decision, considering how muggy the town hall was with all the townspeople crammed inside of the small council room. But Camilla had told her to dress nicely to address the council, and she was a sucker for whatever her wife said. Right now she was feeling jipped however, as her wife, daughter, and sister all sat to either side of her, dressed in lacking attire. Both Luz and Lilith were dressed in their uniforms, having just come from practice, and Camilla was dressed in her scrubs having just ended her shift at the hospital. Eda commented on the matter, but Camilla had quipped that they were not the one’s meeting with the council.

Eda reviewed the notes and files she had gathered for her argument from the council, biting her nail as her eyes grazed the lines she had prepared. Her eyes darted to the front of the room where the nine-member council, composed of men and women sat in lavish chairs. The current motion they were deliberating was about a traffic light near the library . . . or something, Eda wasn’t really paying attention. Her eyes stopped on the man that sat in a chair off to the side of the council, close to the door of their deliberation room. Her lip involuntarily curled and she let out a low growl.

Belos sat tall, his back perfectly straight and a smug smile plastered on his lips. His dusty blonde hair slicked back with an atrocious amount of hair gel that gave him a greasy appearance. 

_ Accurate.  _ Eda thought.  _ Greasy Hair for a greasy man. _

Belos’s electric blue eyes scanned the room, like a king surveying his land, his eyes eventually landing on Edalyn and her family.

His smile grew. Eyes falling to the youngest Noceda, before snapping back to the council.

Eda’s eyes followed Belos’s trail to her daughter and paled more than she already was at the site.

Luz was hunched over, leg bouncing, teeth tearing at her nails, similar to the way Eda was earlier. Her brows were clenched together and sweat beaded from her forehead as she watched the council make decision after decision. This was not the same spunky Luz that Eda had known all her life. This was a girl who was angry and scared.

“Next Order-” A council member donned in a yellow suit and matching top hat boomed, “Confirming candidates for our new Mayor electoral year.” He stood up, holding a piece of paper with a list of names on it. “We, as a council would first like to thank Mayor Titan for his successful twenty years in office, and wish him all the best with his retirement.” 

A round of polite applause was given as former mayor Titan, dressed in a well-tailored white suit, to match his whitening hair, stood and waved to the crowd, before promptly sitting back down.

The councilman continued, “Yes. Thank You, Mayor Titan. Now to read the names, of the considered replacements for his place in office:

“- Pastor Ivan Belos” Belos stood and gave the crowd a polite smile and wave.

“-Councilman Adam Nation” the councilman in a magenta suit and sharp beard stood and bowed his head to the crowd.

“And, following in his father’s footsteps, Eugene Titan Junior.” Eugene stood up next to his father nodding his head and waving to the crowd. He wore a suit similar to his father’s.

“Before we begin consideration, and hear the propositions these men intend to make to better our town. Does anyone have reasons as to why any of these men are not fit to govern our town?”

This was it.

This was Eda’s moment to stop the past from repeating itself. She turned to Camilla, who gave her an encouraging smile and a pat on the back. Eda stood and made her way to the microphone they had set up.

“Council of Bonesborough, I have reasons as to why Pastor Ivan Belos is not fit to govern our town.” Her hands shook and the papers she held in her hand crinkled from her tight grip.

“Please state your name, Madam.”

“Edayln Clawthorne-Noceda, Councilman. Business owner of  _ Eda’s Potions and Notions  _ in Bonesborough mall.” Her voice cracked slightly.

She hated this, she hated having to suck up to authority like this.  _ Keep it together, for Luz.  _ She reminded yourself.

“What is your reasoning Mrs. Clawthorne-Noceda?”

“Mr. Belos is a cult leader.”

A collective gasp was heard from the crowd as murmurs began to spread at the wild accusation.”

The councilman banged a gavel thrice. “Order amongst the people!” he demanded and the room fell to a hush. “That’s a large accusation Mrs. Clawthorne, I hope you have evidence to back it up.”

“I do your honor.” She held up a document and handed it to the guard, who happened to be Wraith, to give to the council to review. 

“Belos had tortured my family for two years, breaking in and vandalizing my shop, threatening my daughter, and turning my own sister against us, all in the name of his ancient deity. The document I’ve provided is a restraining order we placed against him. This brought all matter to an end last October.”

The paper was passed to each council member before reaching the one speaking at the end, for him to inspect. “Do you have video evidence that Belos was the one that vandalized your shop?”

Eda’s voice grew quiet, “Well, no, councilman, this was before we installed cameras.”

He hummed, “I see. Does your daughter have any physical evidence of Mr. Belos’s threats?” Eyes still scanning the paper.

Eda shrunk where she stood. “Again, no councilman, all threats were verbal.”

“Physical assault?”

Eda’s temper was wearing thin. “None that we could prove, she is involved in athletics, council, her injuries were written off as sports-related injuries.”

The councilman let out a brief chuckle, “Well as for your sister, family drama has no place in politics. Mr. Belos, what do you say to these claims?”

Belos stood, his smile never leaving. “Councilman Podion, all of these claims are misunderstandings I can assure you. The threats to the child were merely offers to join our congregation, I do admit I can get a little eccentric when talking about my savior.” he let out a chortle that the townspeople quickly joined in on. “The vandalisms had nothing to do with me, but after everything that their daughter had told them, it’s logical that a parent would assume it was their child’s attacker.”

“And the family troubles?” Councilman Podion queried.

“Previous relationship.” Belos dismissed.

“That Boldface liar!” Lilith shot out of her seat, practically launching herself into the next row of people. “Even when I was a part of that man's, that  _ monster’s  _ scheme, I feared him! The thought of a relationship other than professional never even glimpsed my mind!” The two men who sat in front of her were now holding her back from climbing over the seats. 

Eda spared a glance at Luz to see she had gone ghost white.

Councilman Podion furiously banged his gavel.“Order! Order! Order Mrs. Clawthorne or I’m holding you in contempt!” 

Lilith quieted as the two men showed her back down into her seat.

“Messy break-up.” Belos shrugged to the council.

Podion straightened the hair that fell out of place and righted his hat from the mess of himself he created from the commotion. He took a few breaths, regaining his composure before continuing to address Eda.

“Ms. Clawthorne-Noceda, you have come into our sacred place of work and made it into a zoo with your wild claims and lack of evidence. Please take your seat so we may continue with our meeting.”

“But what about the restraining order?”

“Oh please-” a councilwoman in a dark-blue pantsuit interjected. “A restraining order is hardly a criminal record. I can’t count how many I’ve filed and received in my day. Neighbors and couples fight, and the solutions are almost never clean.”

Tones of agreement spread through the crowd.

“I see no reason that one restraining order should demerit such an upstanding citizen like Mr. Belos here.”

Belos tipped his head in gratitude. “Thank you councilwoman Healter, you are too kind.”

“But council, please you have to believe us-”

“That’s enough of your antics Mrs. Clawthorne unless anyone here can back up the Clawthorne-Noceda Family’s claims?” Councilwoman Healter held her arms open to welcome any complaints from the crowd.

An eerie quiet fell over the room.

“That’s what I thought. Podion, please proceed.”

The councilman turned back to the audience. “Without any further objections, I motion to vote.”

“I second the motion.” Called councilman Nation.

“All those in favor of approving  **All Candidates** -” Podion stared down Eda. “Say ‘Aye’.”

A resounding ‘Aye’ came from seven out of the nine council members present. 

“Motion Carries.” A bang of his gavel. “We conduct a five-minute recess for all candidates to prepare their commentarial speeches. Dismiss.” A final blow of his gavel and the crowd dispersed. 

Leaving Edalyn Clawthone-Noceda standing there, dumbfounded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading I promise the next chapter will go up on Monday or I give you all full permission to hunt me down and force me to post it! If you liked this chapter leave a kudos or comment, or both, and maybe share with your witch friends, do whatever you want! I don't control you! Draw doodles of me being crazy I don't know, I'm just a humble writer!


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